CORNELL
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
CORNELL UNIVERSITY ,LIBR ARY
3 1924 092 229 347
DATE DUE
■ Oln,
-fe.pc=ci=ttBt:
•jfTifflT''^^^*
^
tt^^'ftHM^Xfe
fsMH
l^mijg^
B
^^Zfl
SmS
IK^
Wii^»"
>iUlrT
fn«m^
CAYLORD
PRINTEO.N., S*
'«
Cornell University
Library
The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092229347
PROOF EDITION
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN:
THE RECORD OF THE PROGRESS OF THE
BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE
ISSUED IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS SEMI-CENTENNIAL AND OCCUPANCY OF ITS
NEW BUILDING; TOGETHER WITH THE
History of the City of Brooklyn
FROM ITS SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME
EDITED BY
HENRY W. B. HOWARD
ASSISTED BY ARTHUR N. JERVIS
volunie: two.
PUBLISHED BY
THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE
1893
.i^^
The Eagle Printing House
F
3S
301-^ +
V, c^
A^70&oi^
Copyright
BY
THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE.
V
..^^^
t»^'
.%-^*
tt**^
/
!i ill n c
The Uniov for Ciirisii\n \\(ikk
£/s<pa' a/j-o as the Headqiiarlers of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities.
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
LL large cities have many social problems to solve, but none requires more
careful thought and attention than that relating to the care of the poor and
needy. The city, with public funds, maintains hospitals and asylums, homes
for paupers, prisons for criminals, and reformatories for wayward youths; but
there is a very large class of people to be cared for who are not outcasts,
criminals or paupers, and, even if they had a claim on public charity, are deserv-
ing of better homes and better treatment than the city or county institutions
would afford them. No panacea for poverty has ever been discovered, and so
it has devolved upon one class of people to help provide for the necessities of
another class — the unfortunates. There is no escaping this duty. The only
question is how best to perform it. Promiscuous and indiscriminate alms-giving is often productive of more
harm than good. Not only does it encourage pauperism, but, by helping the undeserving, it tends to lessen
the sympathies of those who are moved to charitable giving. The idea is now growing into prevalence that
only by means of responsible organizations, thoroughly equipped and intelligently managed, can this work
be properly done; and no city in America is to-day doing this kind of charitable work better than Brooklyn.
Her charitable institutions are numerous and cover almost every case that should be reached. Like New
York city, Brooklyn has an unusually heavy burden to bear because of the large influ.x of immigrants from
other countries. When the unfortunate foreigner becomes stranded within the city precincts he must be
cared for in some way, even if he is not a citizen and has no just claim on any of the city's eleemosynary
institutions. It is no easy matter to classify or reduce to numbers the organized charities of the city.
Every church, Catholic and Protestant, and every synagogue is, in a degree, a charitable organization. The
innumerable circles of King's Daughters, the " relief committees," "helping hand " societies and kindred
organizations, are all more or less engaged in the work of relieving human suffering. There are also many
hundred secret and benefit societies, like the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum, the Legion of
6^8 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Honor and other such fraternities, reaching into nearly every family in the city, each one of which is, to an
extent a charitable organization. The Grand Army posts, too, are particularly noted for their chanties. All
these philanthropic agencies are more or less restricted to the relief of their own members, thus assuming
burdens that otherwise would fall elsewhere. Apart from all such specialized kinds of charity, there are
several organizations for relieving and aiding the needy irrespective of class, age or sex. Two of these are
of a character which render them equal or superior to any similar organization in the country, and their work
is conducted on a scale which extends their work throughout the entire city and gains for them liberal
support For the purpose of concise and comprehensive mention of Brooklyn's charitable organizations
and their respective aims, they are here classified under five general heads. First, societies whose object is
the general relief of the poor; second, such as give special attention to the care of children; third, those
that give aid to needy women; fourth, institutions devoted to the care of the aged and indigent; and fifth,
societies engaged in miscellaneous charitable work.
FOR THE GENERAL RELIEF OF THE POOR.
First under this head, by reason of the comprehensive character of its work, is the Brooklyn Bureau
OF Charities. It was founded in 1879 and incorporated in 1887. The first president was the Hon. Seth
Low, and associated with him was A. T. White, as secretary. The work of the society at the outset was
confined, principally, to keeping a register of the names, addresses and description of those who were receiv-
ing relief from the public treasury, as well as from private sources and churches. Personal visits were made
to those who claimed they were in need of assistance. It was found that one of the chief causes of distress
among the lower classes was lack of employment. To offset, in some measure, this difficulty, the society
started a woodyard in 1884, where such men as applied were set to work, being paid enough to keep them
from starving or having to wander about the streets. The scope of the work has grown larger and larger,
and within the twelve months ending in May, 1892, $2,858.58 was paid out in wages. For convenience the
city has been divided by the bureau into three sections. The central offices are at 69 Schermerhorn street,
where workrooms and a laundry (for the employment of women), a day nursery, etc., are in successful opera-
tion. The offices for the eastern section of the city are located in the new Industrial Building, at 1658-60
Fulton street. In the rear of this building, extending to Herkimer street, is a woodyard for the temporary
employment of men in need of work. The district office for all that portion of the city north of Flushing
avenue is at No. 50 South Eighth street. In the rear of this, and at 52 and 54 South Eighth street, is another
woodyard. Anyone, whether a subscriber to the bureau or not, is invited to send applicants for relief to
some one of the offices mentioned. They are kept open until 10 P. M., and no distinction is made on
account of race, religion, sex or age.
Union for Christian Work. — Several meetings of persons favoring the formation of a liberal Chris-
tian Union in Brooklyn resulted on Tuesday evening, November 20, 1866, in an organization of which
Isaac H. Frothingham was elected president, and this organization exists as the Union for Christian Work.
The presidents, in the order of their service, have been Isaac H. Frothingham, Robert Foster, Chas. P.
Gerrish, Sylvester Swain, Ripley Ropes, Josiah B. Blossom, who served two years, and Robert Foster, who
was elected in 1S72 and has served continuously until the present time. The place first selected for
meetings of the society and for the reading room, which was at once opened, was a large room in the
Hamilton building on Court street. In June, 1871, the society was incorporated under the title of the
L'nion for Christian Work. For many years, notably during the presidency of Ripley Ropes, in 1870, news-
boys, homeless youth and others from humble homes were gathered every evening in the rooms of the
Union, where, for one hour, they received instruction in some of the more important branches of a common
school education. These classes were not disbanded until the Board of Education had made generous pro-
vision for evening schools. The Union maintained for a dozen years or more a large sewing school, which
was eventually discontinued, because the board of managers, in view of the fact that similar schools were
numerous in every quarter of the city, did not feel warranted in devoting to the school in the new building
room which was needed for the extension of the rapidly growing library. For five years previous to 1880
Mr. Geo. T. Clark filled with fidelity and success the office of superintendent of the Union. During this
period he rendered creditable service in furnishing employment and in devising various methods to lift
those in straitened circumstances out of their want and wretchedness. His shoe shop connected with
the Union was recognized by hundreds as a very helpful agency. In 1877 the proprietors of two wood
yards in the city were persuaded, at great inconvenience to themselves, to discontinue the use of steam
power and have the work of preparing kindling wood done by hand. The object of this was to make the
sawing and splitting of wood a " labor test" for able-bodied persons who applied at the Union rooms, or to
friends of the Union, for money or work. Messrs. Seth Low and A. T. White, each afterwards president of
the Bureau of Charities, devised this scheme of benevolence and met the attendant expense. In the year
iSSo Wm. A. Butler was appointed superintendent of the Union, and the most important function of his
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS. 649
office has been the providing of employment for all worthy seekers. Employers in Brooklyn and New York
soon learned to trust the recommendations of Superintendent Butler, and within the past ten years he has
been able to respond favorably to nearly twenty-two thousand applications for employment, placing very
many of those thus aided in permanent situations. The Union has since 1866 continually maintained at
least one reading room, and for several years it has kept two rooms open to all residents of Brooklyn. In
December, 1880, the library was opened as a free circulating library. The city government has each year
for four years appropriated |s,ooo towards the maintenance of the library. This action is in accordance
with the provisions of the Library Act passed by the state legislature in 1886. The Union building, at 67
and 69 Schermerhorn street, was erected by the board of managers of the Union. It was paid for as it was
built and with funds contributed for the purpose by the citizens of Brooklyn. The property of the Union,
its building with the furnishings, and its large library with its costly appurtenances, is clear of any incum-
brance whatever. Only one-half of the building is at present occupied by the Union, the other half being
leased to the Bureau of Charities. The officers of the Union include Robert Foster, president ; William C.
Gardner, secretary ; Isaac H. Cary, treasurer.
Little sympathy need be wasted on the individual who is able to work and will not when he has the
opportunity. But there are very many cases where immediate relief is necessary, either in money or in
food and fuel, and to such the Brooklyn Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor
extends the necessary assistance. It was organized in October, 1843, by a number of public spirited citizens
for the purpose of considering the adoption of measures for the relief of worthy people in temporary dis-
tress. The first officers were Seth Low, president ; Abraham Halsey, treasurer ; James How, recording
secretary ; Stephen Crowell, corresponding secretary and general agent. The association was incorporated
on October 20, 1864 ; the names of the incorporators being R. W. Ropes, Dwight Johnson, Richard P. Buck,
Samuel Bayliss, Arnold A. Lewis, E. E. Bowen, John Avila, James H. Storrs, D. T. Leverich, A. T. Baldwin,
Alphonso Wood, A. D. Wheelock and A. D. Matthews. The principles and objects of the association were
generally defined to be "to elevate the moral and physical condition of the worthy poor, and, as far as
possible, relieve their necessities." The aim of the association was not to supersede existing charities but
to supplement them, and to help those who were willing to help themselves. On June 2, 1873, the premises
on Livingston street, then numbered 108, were purchased. The building was a two-story frame house, and
there the association had its quarters until May, 1881, when an adjoining lot was bought, the frame house
removed and a four-story brick building erected, at a cost of about $25,000. In May, 1891, the association
purchased for $6,000 a plot of land on the west side of Throop avenue, between Gates avenue and Quincy
street, and erected a large three-story brick building, which is known as the branch headquarters of the
association. The headquarters of the association on Livingston street consist of a building containing
three stories besides basement and attic. On the first floor is the reception room for applicants, the general
waiting room, the general agent's receiving office, and the depot for supplies ; the second floor contains the
general offices and a large meeting room, and on the third is the clothing department, in which is a com-
modious waiting room for women and a " cutting out " room. An important part of the work performed by
the association is under the direction of the ladies' clothing committee. This committee was organized in
December, 1882, by eight ladies. Goods, consisting of calico, muslin, flannel, batting, etc., were purchased,
at wholesale prices, cut into patterns and given to women who had applied for work. The women receive
tickets or vouchers for work performed, and on presenting them to the general agent receive orders for
provisions or clothing. This system results in making the better class of women feel that they have earned
the help they receive, and the result is advantageous to the association as well as to the workers. Some
idea of the work of the association can be derived from the fact that 9,974 families and 44,933 individuals
were helped in 1890. Grocery orders to the number of 4,393 were given out, also 640 tons of coal, 1,567
pairs of shoes and rubbers, and 150 garments, besides a great many other articles. The membership
exceeded 4,000 in 1892.
St. Phebe's Mission, which is one of the local institutions of the Protestan; Episcopal Church, held
its first formal meeting February 8, 1882. The first board of managers consisted of Miss Harriette Low,
president ; Mrs. Augustus Evans, secretary ; Miss Cornelia King, treasurer. Although the mission has had
a formal existence of only a decade, its real birth occurred nearly a score of years before. In 1S60 Mrs.
Fellows, wife of a disabled clergyman, began regular visits to the city jail, to hospitals and other institu-
tions receiving compensation from friends. In January, 1869, Bishop A. N. Littlejohn appointed Mrs. Fel-
lows a city missionary at a yearly salary of $500. Soon after this Mrs. Fellows was forced to abandon her
labors on account of age, and she was relieved by Sister Eliza, of the Order of St. John the Evangelist.
Sister Eliza visited the unfortunate inmates of the county buildings at Flatbush, the penitentiary, city jail
and in hospitals. The women of the diocese began to take an active interest in the work, and it was
decided that a mission house was needed — a place to which supplies could be sent for the sick and the
65°
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
St. Phebe's Mission.
poor, where a resort for the sick poor could be established, and where discharged inmates of the different
institutions could remain until suitable occupations could be found for them. On February 8, 1882, the
house at 10 Lafayette avenue was occupied and consecrated. In 1884, Miss Low, the president of the
charity, was removed by death. In
May, 1886, St. Phebe's Mission began
the occupancy of its memorial building
at 125 De Kalb avenue. The building
was presented by Mr. and Mrs. A. A.
Low as a memorial of their daughter,
Harriette. The entire expense, not of
construction alone but of furnishings
and equipments as well, was borne by
the donors. The field covered by the
mission has naturally outgrown its orig-
inal size. One of the branches is the
Fresh Air Work. In the summer of
1891 four hundred and sixty-seven per-
sons were sent to the country and many
free excursions to the various beaches
and up the Hudson river were given.
Dinners were given at the Mission, and
families were supplied with wholesome
meals, sent to their homes. In addition
to food, potted plants are freely dis-
tributed. Bibles, prayer books, maga-
zines and newspapers are distributed; lodgings are provided at places other than the Mission House, owing
to its crowded condition, and prescriptions are freely compounded for the sick, who are visited by the
nurse. During the year ending April i, 1892, 4,418 prescriptions were furnished, and the expense of thirty-
five burials was borne by the Mission. During the year 43,278 persons were helped by the Mission, 18,028
were visited and assisted, and 5,370 meals were furnished. Physicians, to the number of twenty-three,
gratuitously gave their professional services when called upon to do so. St. Phebe's Mission is doing its
extensive and noble work without regard to race, creed or color.
The German Evangelical Home had its inception at a meeting held September 12, 1877, by the
ladies of a missionary society of the First German Presbyterian Church. The permanent organization was
completed on December 9, 1S7S, and the following officers were elected : Mrs. Maria A. Miller, president;
Miss Eliza Loch, vice-president ; Miss Caroline Nienaber, secretary ; Miss Louisa Moerschal, treasurer.
The purpose of the German Evangelical Aid Society is to provide the necessaries of life and employment
for such persons as may need this care and who are members of the German Evangelical churches of
Brooklyn. The society was incorporated on March 28, 1879, by Mrs. Maria A. Miller, Mrs. Catherine
Elsasser, Mrs. Augusta Duerholz, Mrs. Catherine Miihlbaur and Mrs. Philipine Achtewath. One of the
chief promoters of the society was Prof. George C. Seibert, D. D., Ph. D., who delivered lectures and worked
industriously for the advancement of the cause. In January, 188 r, a large tract of land was purchased on
the corner of Bushwick avenue and Fairfax street, and the present building was begun, the corner-stone
being laid on October 15, 1882. The building was occupied in the following February. Meanwhile the
work had been carried on in a small house at No. 79 Himrod street. The doors of the institution were
opened on April r, 1881. Mrs. Maria A. Miller was appointed matron, a position she now fills. On July 5,
1885, the corner-stone of a large addition to the original building was laid, and the work was completed the
following September. About the same time additional land was purchased and within two years the
necessity for larger quarters resulted in the erection of another wing. In 1877 ten more lots were pur-
chased on the corner of Bushwick avenue and Moffat street, and in 1891 yet another building was erected
at a cost of over $17,500, with a stable and a laundry. The financial condition of the Home is excellent,
its property being valued at $110,000.
The Brooklyn Benevolent Society was organized in 1845 for the purpose of carrying out the pro-
visions of a trust left by Cornelius Heeney, who gave for charitable purposes 151 lots of land lying between
Hicks, Columbia, Congress and Henry streets. By the provisions of the trust the income of this property
was to be expended for the relief of the poor, an especial sum being set apart for the benefit of orphan
children. The headquarters of the society are at No. 84 Amity street. The funds are spent principally
among the Catholic poor, and the bishop of the diocese is president of the society.
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS. 651
For the purpose of assisting the needy through a judiciously regulated system of relief there are two
Hebrew benevolent societies in this city, one having its headquarters at 272 Dean street, and another at
93 South Ninth street. Food, clothing and fuel are furnished the worthy poor, the society deriving its
income from the dues of members and the contributions of the charitable.
. In all parts of the world where the Roman Catholic Church has a foot-hold the Society of St. Vincent
DE Paul has its conferences and councils, and their members devote themselves to doing good. They visit
the poor in their homes, carrying means of relief when it is needed and assisting, when they can, in the
instruction of poor children. All this work is voluntary. The society was organized in Paris, France,
nearly sixty years ago and is governed by a council-general which is located in that city. The council of
Brooklyn includes thirty-one conferences. Each conference is connected with one of the churches in the
diocese and is under the supervision of a clergyman as spiritual director, all the other officers being lay-
men. The council of Brooklyn is composed of the presidents and vice-presidents of the several conferences
within the district it governs. The first of these conferences, that of St. James, was organized on January
10, 185s, by the late Right Rev. John Loughlin, D. D., and the organization of other conferences soon fol-
lowed. The council was formed on September 9, 1857. The aggregate membership of the conferences in
the diocese of Brooklyn is six hundred and fifty-seven, and the present officers of the council are Rev. P. J.
McNamara, spiritual director; T. W. Hynes, president ; Thomas G. Mulligan, vice-president; Christopher
J. Dellahunt, secretary ; Alfred J. Hook, assistant secretary ; Patrick O'Connor, treasurer. The aggregate
income of the conferences amounts to more than twenty thousand dollars, derived from poor bo.xes in the
churches, donations, collections at meetings and similar sources. In the thirty-seven years of their exist-
ence the Brooklyn conferences have expended about seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in benefi-
cence ; and, although it is distinctively a Roman Catholic organization, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul
allows no considerations of creed, race or sex to limit the scope of its well-doing. Under the auspices of
the society there is maintained an institution for boys known as St. Vincent's Home for Boys, which is in a
prosperous condition. Visitations to inmates of the county jail, the penitentiary and the Home for Truants
are made regularly by members and there is a thorough and extensive system of visitation of the poor,
attended by the judicious distribution of food, fuel, clothing and money. The last annual report shows
that during the year 22,425 visits were made to 1,765 families, with the result of affording needed relief to
an aggregate of 7,860 persons ; the disbursements included $13,461 for groceries and fuel, $1,233 ^^r cloth-
ing, $788 for funeral expenses and $2,306 in cash to worthy recipients, besides money contributed to St. Vin-
cent's Home, St. Mary's Hospital and for other charitable purposes.
The State Charities Aid Association was formed in May, 1872, with headquarters in New York,
for the two-fold object of promoting an active public interest in the state charities, with a view to the
physical, mental and moral improvement of their pauper inmates, and of making more efficient the present
system of caring for paupers and bringing about such reforms as may be in accordance with the most
enlightened views of Christianity, science and philanthropy. The system includes the central organization
and a number of local visiting committees, the latter making regular reports to the central association; these
reports are regarded by the state commissioners as being of sufficient value to be received and acted upon
as if they were official. The membership is composed very largely of women and nearly all the offices are
held by them, although there is an advisory board composed of a number of leading clergymen, physicians
and other citizens. The Brooklyn branch of the association is known as the Local Visiting Committee for
Kings County Public Institutions. It was organized October 14, 1873, and Mrs. J. S. T. Stranahan has been
president from the beginning. The work is laid out systematically and every one of the charitable institu-
tions in Brooklyn is under the supervision of a standing committee which makes regular visits. Every
member of the organization is required to serve on one of these committees and there is an executive com-
mittee, composed of the officers of the association and the chairman of the standing committee.
SOCIETIES FOR THE CARE OF THE YOUNG.
No beneficent association in Brooklyn serves a grander purpose than does the Children's Aid Society.
It shelters and cares for friendless and vagrant boys, furnishing them with food, lodging and clothing, and
providing instruction and occupation ; it aids girls similarly in special institutions provided for the pur-
pose ; it gives excursions for mothers and children to the seashore during the hot summer months ; it
has a seaside home for them at Coney Island ; it has established a Newsboys' Home, industrial schools,
sewing machine schools and day nurseries. The Brooklyn Children's Aid Society had its inception at a
meeting held in the residence of the Hon. S. B. Chittenden on the evening of January 13, 1866, and its
first institution, the Newsboys' Home, was opened on September i of that year. The society's field of
effort rapidly widened, and to-day no charitable institution in the city exercises a more effective influence
for good. The Hon. S. B. Chittenden was its first president and William Appleton Lawrence the general
652
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
superintendent. These offices in 189. are filled, respectively, by Charles K. Wallace and L. C. Hill In
addition to its other work, the society has devoted itself for some time past to procuring homes in the West
for friendless boys. This work has grown to considerable proportions and is becoming one of the most
important of the association's special lines of effort.
It was in 1880 that the attention of Mr. Henry R. Jones, then president of the Children s Aid Society
of Brooklyn was first called to the fact that there was no individual or department in this great city in
whom the proper authority was vested to prevent children from being cruelly and inhumanly treated. On
investigation, Mr. Jones found that the police could not make arrests in such cases. On the evening of
December 13', 1880, thirteen gentlemen assembled at the residence of the late Horace B. Claflin, on Pierre-
pont street, Ind o'rganized what is to-day known as the Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children. The men who signed their names to the article of incorporation were ; The Rev.
Joseph Fransioli, S. V. White, Alfred T. White, Thomas S. Moore, George L. Pease, W. B. Leonard, William
Brooklyn Orphan Asylum,
G. Low, Henry R. Jones, N. Dana Wells, Alexander Munn, Richard D. Douglass, H. B. Claflin and Charles
A. Denny. At this meeting Henry R. Jones was elected president ; Horace B. Claflin and William B.
Leonard, vice-presidents ; Alexander Munn, secretary ; George L. Pease, treasurer ; Thomas S. Moore and
N. Dana Wells, counsel ; Jerome Walker, physician ; and Robert J. Wilkin, superintendent. Within two
weeks the organization of the society was perfected and offices had been opened in the basement of the
Brooklyn Library building. Business increased so rapidly that one year later the society was obliged to
move into more commodious quarters. In 1885, Mr. Horace B. Claflin died. One of his last requests to
his son John was that he should give $25,000 to the society. A portion of the money was used in the pur-
chase of the premises 141 Montague street, to which house the society moved in 1886. In 1887 the work of
the society was enlarged so as to include the whole of Long Island, and agencies were established in the
counties of Queens and Suffolk. Under the provisions of the Police Matron Law of 1891, it became incum-
bent on the society to care for all girls under the age of sixteen arrested by the police. In order to supply
these girls with a temporary home, the society purchased the house and grounds at 105 Schermerhorn street
and fitted it up in comfortable style. The society has thoroughly investigated the subject of illicit infant
boarding houses and lying-in asylums, and with the cooperation of the board of aldermen and the health
department an ordinance was passed requiring such places to have a license. The measure was considered
so meritorious that at the session of the legislature in 1891 it became a state law. Within the last twelve
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
6s;
years the society has investigated 11,692 cases of cruelty, prosecuted 3,053 offenders and secured 2,702 con-
victions. In 1892 there were 1,269 cases investigated, 279 offenders prosecuted, of whom 237 were con-
victed, and 1,387 children rescued.
The Brooklyn Orphan Asylum, the first institution of its kind to be established in Brooklyn, was organ-
ized May 17, 1833, through the efforts of a number of ladies, among whom were Mrs. Phoebe Butler, Mrs.
Elizabeth Davison, Mrs. Charles Richards and Mrs. P. W. Radcliffe. The old Jackson house on the Heights
was the first home of the society, and during the first year fourteen boys and twelve girls were cared for.
Removal was subsequently made to Cumberland street. Jenny Lind sang and Fanny Kemble read, and
many others labored in various ways in behalf of the building fund of the society. On December i, 1870,
the corner-stone of the present structure, at Atlantic and Kingston avenues, was laid, and on June 15,
1872, the asylum building was formally opened. The institution is supported by bequests, specific dona-
tions, endowments and by general charitable contributions. Mrs. Anna C. Field was president of the
society in 1892, and the asylum was under the charge of Mrs. S. A. Hill.
The Brooklyn Industrial School Association and Home for Destitute Children began its work
in 1854 and was incorporated in 1857. The Home, on
Sterling place, between Vanderbilt and Flatbush ave-
nues, was erected in 1861, and several additions to it
have since been made. The association has established
six industrial schools, as follows: No. i, on Concord
street, opposite Prince street; No. 2, at 10 Fourth
street; No. 3, at the Home; No. 4, at 206 Twelfth
street ; No. 5, on Throop avenue, near EUery street ;
No. 6, at loi Steuben street. Children receive an
elementary course of instruction and moral and relig-
ious training in these schools. The children in the
Home are those whose parents cannot provide for
them. Orphans and half orphans are not received at
the Home, but are sent to the Orphan Asylum. Nearly
every Protestant Church in Brooklyn is represented in
the board of managers, and the work is supported by
church collections and voluntary contributions. An
annual fair also adds to the revenues. Mrs. Joseph
Merwin is president of the association.
The Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum Society
was founded in 1829, with Peter Turner as its presi-
dent. The society was incorporated on May 6, 1834. The first asylum was at 188 Jay street, in charge of
the Sisters of Charity, but now there are three institutions — St. John's Home, corner of Albany and St.
Mark's avenues, for the care of destitute or orphan boys ; St. Joseph's Asylum, corner of Sumner and
Willoughby avenues, and St. Paul's Industrial School, corner of Congress and Clinton streets, for destitute
female orphans. Cornelius Heeney gave the society ten lots on Congress street, and after his death, which
occurred in 1848, the society received as a bequest the greater portion of his large estate for the support
of orphans. The bishop of the diocese is president of the society. Its offices are at 42 Court street.
St. Vincent's Home was incorporated in July, 1869, for the care and instruction of friendless boys. It
occupies two buildings, one at 7 Poplar street and the other at 10 Vine street, the space between being
utilized for a playground. The institution is under the charge of a board of managers composed of Roman
Catholic clergymen, with the bishop of the diocese at their head.
The Brooklyn Nursery and Infants' Hospital, occupying a handsome structure on Herkimer street,
near Kingston avenue, is the outcome of the Flatbush Avenue Industrial School and Nursery, established
in 1871 through the efforts of Mrs. E. B. Rollins, Mrs. H. F. Aten, Mrs. Charles Rushmore, Mrs. W. G.
Lawrence, Mrs. A. G. Houghton, Mrs. L. VV. Seaman and others. The nursery was originally located on
Adelphi street, and then removed to 188 Prospect place. The present quarters were first occupied in 1884.
The object of the society is to care for the infants of parents who are unable to support them entirely.
The institution is under the charge of Mrs. L. K. Moore.
The Brooklyn Training School and Home for Young Girls originated in the fall and winter of
i888-'89 in the efforts of some charitable ladies to improve the condition of friendless young girls between
the ages of twelve and twenty-one, by providing them with employment and instruction. The home was
chartered on April 9, 1889. The first officers and incorporators were Mrs. M. T. Maine, president ; Mrs.
T. L. Woodruff, first vice-president; Mrs. Jas. S. Suydam, second vice-president; Mrs. Theo. Conrow,
Industrial School No.
Fourth Street.
6S4
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Home for Destitute Childrek, Sterling Place.
treasurer; Mrs. Edw. B. Jordan, recording secretary; Mrs. C. P. Manney, corresponding secretary; Abbie
T. Boody, Catherine D. Ryder, Anna E. Rickerson, Mary F. Purdy, Henrietta Pearsall, Anna L. Hayes,
Nellie R. Parsons, Sarah B. Finch and Belle I. Herrick. At first the home was located at 360 Schermer-
horn street, but after a fair held in November, 1889, the house at 80 Livingston street was leased. This in
time proving too small, the house at 336 Fourteenth street was. leased. This also has been taxed to the
uttermost to accommodate applicants for admission.
The Eastern District Industrial School had birth in the philanthropy of Mrs. Harriet Brown,
who, impressed with the degraded and ignorant condition of the poor children of Williamsburgh, collected
$600 in small subscriptions and called a meeting of friends on February 20, 1855. The organization was
perfected with Mrs. Brown as chairman, and it was determined to have an industrial school to be located in
the old North American Hotel, on North Second street, between Fourth and Fifth streets. It was opened
on March 7, 1855, with eleven scholars rescued from the highways, with Mrs. Fister as teacher. Mrs. Van
Naughton was chosen the first matron. In i860 the association was incorporated for the purposes of
instruction in "elementary English, habits of neatness, domestic duties, and to provide food and clothing
and secure employment for children arriving at a suitable age." Nine trustees were elected in the persons
of James Hall, Robert Duncan, George Ricard, John Broach, J. M. Halley, Richard B. Hunt, John A.
Brady, M. D., Joseph H. Van De Water and George W. Edwards. Mrs. Eliphalet Lyon, the first directress,
had a bill drawn in 1866 which she personally carried to Albany, where she labored until it was passed and
signed by the governor. It gave the school $10,000, providing that an equal sum should be raised, and
Mrs. Lyon soon saw that the condition was fulfilled. Mr. George Ricard afterwards presented four city
lots on North Second street, on which it was decided to build, but instead, in 1869, the Pease estate was
bought and occupied at a cost of $25,000. A wing costing $32,000 was added to it in 1877, ''"d in 1885 the
old building was razed and a new structure erected. The institution also owns and occupies as a branch-
known as the Gillispie Memorial — a lot and house on Humboldt street, which was presented by one of its
many friends. The first board of officers was Richard B. Hunt, president; George W. Edwards, secretary,
and John Broach, treasurer.
The Brooklyn Truant Home, established in 1855 by the common council of the city, for the refor-
mation of disorderly, idle and truant children between the ages of six and fourteen years. The refuge was
first known as the Juvenile House of Industry and existed under that name for thirteen years in the old
Kings County Penitentiary at Flatbush, under the care of Mr. Van Epps, and his brother as superintendent
and teacher. The first boy was committed on November 30, 1857, by Alderman Clark. In 1869 the com-
mon council purchased from John I. Snedicor his hotel at Cypress Hills and about ten acres of land and
erected a brick building, 80x40 feet and three stories high, suitable for the accommodation of 150 children.
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
"55
Martin Kalbfleisch was then mayor and Alderman John McGroarty chairman of the committee on Ijuilding.
Charles Uemarest was superintendent. In 1890 a brick buildinu; was erected adjoining the school
structure, for the use of employees, water was introduced and many improvements made. Until 1874 both
boys and girls were admitted, but since that time boys alone have been taken.
The kindergarten has become a popular method of primary instruction in Brooklyn, but it remained for
the Brooklyn Kindergarten Associaton to formulate a plan which it is now carrying out — the opening
of a complete system of these schools throughout the city. Although the association has been in e.\istence
only since June, 1891, it already has two free kindergartens in operation and the opening of a third in the
near future is contemplated. About $1,200 a year is the cost of maintenance of each of these schools, and
the necessary funds are raised by membership fees instead of solicited subscriptions. Any one may become
a yearly member of the Brooklyn Kindergarten Association on payment of $3 dues and there the obligation
ends. The society is not an incorporated body. The initial meeting was held in December, 1890, and the
following April a public meeting was held at the Pratt Institute, at which the formal organization was com-
pleted by the election of officers. On June 17 the association established the Woman's Club Kindergarten,
which holds daily sessions in the Bethel Chapel on Hicks street. The second school was opened under the
charge of Miss Florence M. Perry on April 6, 1892, in the building of Memorial Industrial School No. i.
Under the same auspices and through the kindness of Mr. F. B. Pratt a training school for kindergarteners
has been organized at Pratt Institute and many young women are availing themselves of this interesting
instruction. The officers of the association are : Frank L. Babbott, president; Mrs. F. P. Bellamy, first
vice-president ; Henry W. Maxwell, second vice-president ; Henry Sanger Snow, treasurer ; Caroline B.
Le Row, secretary ; Dr. Palmer Townsend, assistant secretary.
The Sheltering Arms Nursery, at 157 Dean street, was incorporated in 1871. It had been estab-
lished the preceding year to provide a place where poor mothers obliged to work could leave their children
during the day; but subsequently a nursery for permanent inmates was provided in a house on Pacific street.
Finally, after several removals, the present location was secured in 1877. The original building was
destroyed by fire in 1880, but was immediately rebuilt. The Nursery is a diocesan charity and has a per-
manent fund for its support. Mrs. S. H. Wood is the president and Mrs. E. A. Bradley the treasurer.
The kindergarten refuge maintained by the Holy Innocents Union of St. Peter's parish is located in
a building owned by the church organization at no Congress street. It was established by the late Rev.
Father Joseph Fransioli in the latter part of 1884, in the building at 102 Warren street, which was owned by
the church. In February, 1885, a number of the charitable women of the parish formed the Society of the
Holy Innocents Union with Mrs. J. W. Prendergast as president ; Mrs. J. Slevin, vice-president ; Miss M.
H. Loughlin, secretary ; Miss J. Carroll, corresponding secretary ; Miss M. Clevin, treasurer ; and Mrs.
Bessie Dainty, superintendent. Four years later the union was incorporated by Mary H. Prendergast, Mrs.
J. Slevin, Mrs. A. Gaffney and Mrs. B. Dainty.
The Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, on Willoughby avenue, between Classon and Graham avenues,
was incorporated on March 8, 1865. Its object is to provide for and educate orphans and destitute chil-
dren. The institution is supported by the school and other labor of its inmates, by donations and by aid
from the city.
The Hebrew Orphan Asylum Society was incorporated in August, 1878, and a house at the corner of
Stuyvesant avenue and McDonough street was opened for the reception of orphans on January 7, 1879.
Two years later grounds on
McDonough street, adjoining
the original building, were pur-
chased, the corner-stone of the
building having been laid June
26, 1883. On May 3, 1892, was
laid the corner-stone of the new
asylum on Ralph avenue. Pa-
cific and Dean streets. This
building cost $235,000 and
was dedicated on December
28,1892. It will accommodate
about 400. Ernst Nathan was
the first president of the so-
ciety and he held that office
during ten years, Ira Leo Bam-
burger being elected his suc-
cessor in 1890.
The Hi;r.KE\v Orphan Asylum.
656 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
An association was formed in New York, by the advice of General O. O. Howard and C. H. Howard, in
1866, to aid freed colored women who came north, and provide a home for their children. On September
7, 1868, the society was incorporated as the Brooklyn Howard Colored Orphan Asylum, it having
meanwhile established itself in this city. The institution is located on Dean street, near Troy avenue.
Mrs. L. A. Cooper, who was its first directress, is president, and the Rev. W. L Johnson is general manager.
ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE AID OF WOMEN.
On March 5, 1880, a number of ladies, who had devoted much of their time to visiting the penitentiary
and jail for the purpose of influencing women confined in those institutions to reform their lives, organized
a society to improve the condition of homeless women, especially such as had been discharged from prison,
by providing them with employment and instruction in a temporary home, where they might be surrounded
by elevating and refining influences, and ultimately to procure for them suitable homes. On May 28, 1880,
the society was incorporated and the Wayside Home was established on Schenck street, near DeKalb
avenue. The first officers were Mrs. E. F. Pettengill, president ; Mrs. Anna C. Field, vice-president ; Miss
C. E. Coffin, secretary ; Mrs. C. W. Shepherd, assistant secretary ; and Mrs. Eliza F. Rawson, treasurer.
These ladies, together with Phebe W. Titus, Sophia S. Boggs, Helen M. Nelson, Mary C. Johnson, J. R. Pitt,
M. A. Brown, Elizabeth R. Coffin, Lizzie R. Barstow, Amelia S. Hart and Mary S. Willets, were also the
incorporators. In the early part of 1892 the legislature of the state passed an act making the Wayside
Home a reformatory to which girls and young women may be committed, and as a result the present build-
ing, at 352 Bridge street, which accommodates over forty inmates, is continually well filled. A laundry is
operated in connection with the Home and the income from this pays about three-fourths of the running
expenses. Mrs. E. F. Pettengill, the first president of the society, still retained that office in 1892.
The Ho.me for Friendless Women and Children, now located on Concord street, between Wash-
ington and Fulton streets, had its origin in the charitable efforts of Mrs. Catharine Duryea Elwell to reform
some poor women who had been confined in Raymond street jail for crimes growing out of intemperate
habits. This was in 1868, and, aided by three friends, she furnished several rooms on Canton street, for
which Mr. James Elwell paid the rent for six months. In these rooms the unfortunate women were given
shelter, and before long several other women and two children also became inmates. In May, 1869, more
commodious quarters were secured, and during the year 156 women and 60 children were sheltered. On
April 28, 1870, the society was incorporated. An appropriation of $10,000 was received from the state,
$19,000 was collected, and the present home was purchased for $30,000 and occupied in May, 187 1. Since
then thousands of women and children have been given aid and shelter. Mrs. William S. Packer is presi-
dent of the society and Mrs. S. M. Conklin is matron of the home.
The House of the Good Shepherd, located at Dean street and Atlantic avenue, is conducted by the
Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who first established it on Henry street, near Atlantic avenue, on May 8, 1868.
The object of the order is the reformation of erring women and the inculcation of principles of virtue in
young girls. The inmates include those who voluntarily go there for reformation and others sent by friends
or the authorities.
The Factory Girls' Improvement Club, at 872 Bedford avenue, between Myrtle and Park avenues, was
organized in 1886 by the Woman's Auxiliary of the Brooklyn City Mission Society, and was successfully
carried on under its supervision until last May, when it was transferred to the care of the King's Daughters.
The object is to instruct, refine and bring under Christian influences girls of from twelve to twenty
years of age who work in factories. They are from the overlooked and neglected class in the community,
whose opportunities for improvement are exceedingly scant. These girls meet in the rooms five evenings
in the week, and are taught sewing, mending, dressmaking, cooking and singing. One evening in the week
is devoted to Bible lessons, and one evening to such general information and training as will help them to
become useful and self-respecting women. In addition a reading-room is open where they can spend an
evening socially ; there is also a sewing class on Friday afternoon for little girls. Mrs. C. A. Henry is the
missionary in charge. The support of these rooms is by voluntary contributions, principally from or through
the King's Daughters, who have also rendered very efficient help as teachers.
The Home Association for Working Women and Girls, incorporated in 1879, has for its object the
furnishing of a comfortable boarding-place for working women and girls at a price proportioned to their
earnings. The present location is at 352 Pacific street. Mrs. W. A. Huster is president of the association.
The Female Employ.ment Society, which owns and occupies the building at 93 Court street furnishes
work to poor women, paying them more for it than they would be likely to obtain elsewhere. Free instruc-
tion is also given in needlework, and employees are aided when sick or in want. The society was
incorporated m 1854, with Mrs. A. A. Low as president. Mrs. E. M. Chapman now fills that office.
The Women's Work Exchange and Decorative Art Society of Brooklyn grew out of the benevo-
lent action of a gentleman connected with Christ Church who, in 1873, organized a little society with the
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS. 657
object of obtaining work for the members of his Bible class— particularly for a crippled girl who had no
means of earning a livelihood. His experiment attracted the favorable attention of many of the women in
the church, who promoted and sustained it, with the result that the South Brooklyn Employment Society
was formed. For several years the society occupied the building at 122 Atlantic avenue and, under the
presidency of Mrs. Nehemiah White, it did a very useful work. In 1879 the Women's Work Exchange was
established for the sale of articles of use or beauty made by women who were obliged to support themselves
and to whom no other way of earning their bread was open. This movement was soon followed by a union
between the new society and the South Brooklyn Employment Society. Four years later the older society
went out of existence, and in 1886 the present society was incorporated. It has been located since May,
1892, at 130 Montague street, where it receives and places on sale, for the benefit of the producers, such
articles as decorated china, needlework, embroidery, pickles, preserves, cake and other products of the
ingenuity or skill of women.
SOCIETIES WHICH PROVIDE FOR THE AGED AND INFIRM.
There is no local charity that has progressed more uniformly or more effectively upon the lines origin-
ally laid down for it than the Brooklyn Home for Vged Men, which had its inception in the efforts of a
number of representative women during the year 1877. One of these had discovered six old and infirm
men in a dilapidated building, without food, fire or furniture. She informed several of her friends ; they
held a meeting, devised ways and means, and the immediate wants of the aged men were soon supplied.
Then these charitable women began the work of establishing an unsectarian home, where worthy men,
disabled by age and reduced to want, could pass their declining years in comfort. A permanent organization
was effected, with Mrs. Mary G. Brinckerhoff as first directress; Mrs. C. D. Jennings, second directress;
Mrs. Martha E. Wilburn, secretary ; Mrs. Sarah A. Kibbe, corresponding secretary, and Mrs. Mary E.
Whiton, treasurer. A temporary home was established in a small house on Grand avenue, where a number
of aged inmates were maintained until March, 1878, when removal was made to 84 State street ; the premises
being purchased by means of donations. It was but a short time before this — on February 27, 1878 —
that the society was incorporated. It was not very long before the new quarters were found inadequate to
the demands made upon them, and the managers determined to in some way build a home that would
enable them effectively to carry on the work to which they had devoted themselves. As a result of much
hard work on their part, on May i, 1887, they entered the handsome structure now known as the Brooklyn
Home for Aged Men, at the corner of Classon avenue and Park place. The corner-stone had been laid on
September 13, 1886, and Messrs. Alfred S. Barnes, Hayden W. Wheeler and D. H. Cochran were the building
committee. Since entering the new home the board of directors have paid off the debt on the building and
added to the grounds, making the lot 135 feet on Park place and 125 feet on Prospect place. The entire
cost has been about $85,000. There is a four-story stone front house on Park place side, and this is to be
attached to the main building and utilized for aged couples.
The Brooklyn Methodist Episcopal Church Home for the Aged and Infirm was incorporated in
May, 1883, by Mrs. Mary M. Voorhies, Mrs. William I. Preston, Mrs. Joseph Knapp, Mrs. Mary I. Phillips,
Mrs. George Copeland^ Mrs. John French, Mrs. Joshua A. Gascoigne, Mrs. Oliver L. Gardner, Mrs. Lewis
S. Pilcher, Mrs. Noah Loder, Mrs. Griffin B. Halsted, Mrs. John Truslow, Mrs. H. C. M. Ingraham and Mrs.
Albion P. Strout. On June 4, following, permanent organization was effected by the election of the follow-
ing officers : President, Mrs. M. M. Voorhies ; vice-presidents, Mrs. W. I. Preston, Mrs. M. V. Phillips, Mrs.
L. D. Tice, Mrs. C. E. Hemmenway ; treasurer, Mrs. C. E. Taft ; recording secretary, Mrs. H. C. M. Ingra-
ham ; corresponding secretary. Miss Martha Young. The purposes of the association are to provide for
aged and infirm men and women, members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a comfortable residence,
with board, clothing, religious privileges, medical and other necessary attendance ; also in the event of
death to give them respectable burial. In the autumn of 1883 the premises at 367 McDonough street were
leased and the work of the society began. In 1886 a plot of ground 255 by 330 feet on New York avenue,
extending from Park place to Butler street, was purchased and a building costing about $60,000 was erected,
being first occupied in May, 1889. It accommodates about fifty inmates.
The Baptist Home is an institution where infirm and needy members of the Baptist churches of
Brooklyn are provided with a home, support and employment. It was incorporated on April 9, 1869, and
the present building, at the corner of Greene and Throop avenues, was dedicated on June 22, 1875. Alex-
ander McDonald and Francis D. Mason together contributed $25,000 toward the building fund, but both
died before the corner-stone was laid on October 22, 1873. The expenses of the Home are defrayed by
contributions from churches and individuals, and it has been the recipient of several liberal bequests.
Charles H. Dutcher is president of the Home, and it is under the charge of Miss J. L. Kirk.
Of the many charitable institutions encouraged and fostered by the late Bishop Loughlin none has
served a more beneficent purpose than the Home for the Aged, at the corner of DeKalb and Bushwick
6^S
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
avenues, wh.ch ,s conducted by the L.ttle Sisters of the Poor. Th.s .nstitut.on which was establish d in
September. 1868, includes in its sphere of usefulness the Eastern District and all that part of the ^\ est-
ern District lying north of Atlantic avenue. Destitute men and women, over si.xty years of age and of good
moral character, are admitted to the Home without regard to their creed or nationality. There they are
provided with food and clothing and nursed in sickness by the sisters. The institution has no regular fund and
receives no pension, but depends entirely upon voluntary contributions and the efforts of the sisters who
go about soHcitincr amono- the charitable, u'ho give them clothing, food and money with which to mamtam
their ao-ed charges Since its doors were first opened to the poor the Home has sheltered thousands of aged
persons, and during the year 1892 over 300 inmates were cared for by the Little Sisters of the Poor.
The Old L.^dies' Home, also called the Graham Institution, and officially known as The Brooklyn
Society for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females, was established for the benefit of
poor gentlewomen unfitted, by previous
culture and refinement, to willingly accept
the public asylum provided by the state.
In January, 185 1, a building site, on Wash-
ington, near DeKalb avenue, was donated
by John B. Graham, a charter was ob-
tained, and through the cooperation of
twenty-six church congregations the
enterprise was established on an unsec-
tarian basis. The society failing to raise
sufficient money for the erection of the
Home, Mr. Graham supplied the neces-
sary funds, and on October 26, 1852, the
building was dedicated. Mr. Graham had
intended to give the society two lots adja-
cent to the Home grounds, but he died
suddenly while in the very act of execut-
ing the deed. Bequests, annual subscrip-
tions and donations have served to put
CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY. ^^^ Hoiiic upou a souttd basis, aad it is
to-day one of the most prosperous of our beneficent institutions. Mrs. Theodore Polhemus is now presi-
dent of the society, and U. Howard is secretary.
The Greenpoint Home for the Aged, located at the corner of Oak and Guernsey streets, is especially
designed for the care of the aged of the seventeenth ward. It was incorporated November 20, 1882. Mrs.
Edwin Finkel has been the president from the beginning, and the institution is conducted under the auspices
of the Ladies' Benevolent Association, which also concerns itself with various other forms of charity in that
section of the city.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS.
" Memorial Home of Industry " is the legend inscribed above the doorway of the three-story building
at 70 Willoughby street. It is a place where a kindly word and a helping hand are offered to the wayfaring
ex-convict. Michael Dunn, himself a convict who had spent many years within prison walls, was its founder.
In January, 1892,115 doors were first thrown open at 201 Livingston street. Ex-convict Dunn's Christianity
was of the practical sort. First the bodily comfort of the stranger was looked to, food, lodging and cloth-
ing were given if needed ; then he endeavored to win the erring one from the evil of his way. It was the
sixth institution of the kind which this man had founded since his conversion in 1878. Broom making was
the industry pursued at the Home. Upon the death of Mr. Dunn in February, 1892, the management of
the Home was undertaken by Darwin J. Meserole. In the following April the Home was removed to the
building it now occupies. In connection with the city missionary work of the Home is conducted an indus-
trial farm, near Smithtown, L. I. About two and half miles east of that place are located 100 acres of
ground owned by Asa W. Parker, which were placed at the disposal of the Home committee, of which he is
a member. Here in May last a number of the inmates began, under the supervision of B. M. Bailey, a
practical farmer, the cultivation of broom corn, and an excellent quality has been produced, and enough farm
produce also raised to supply the farm table and make frequent shipments to the city headquarters. The
government of the Home is vested in Mr. Meserole, the manager and treasurer, and a committee consisting
of Alfred H. Porter, chairman ; Asa W. Parker, Charles W. Ide and G. Le Lacheur, M. D.
The Bureau of Employment and Emergency Fund of the G. A. R. was established in the
spring of 1884. It is an offshoot of the memorial committee of the Grand Army of the Republic for
Kings County, from which it derives its authority. The Bureau of Employment was suggested by Joseph L.
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS. 659
Follett, then a member of Devin post, but now of Winchester post. The Emergency Fund was first pro-
posed by General James McLeer. The bureau was incorporated on April 11, 1885, for the purpose of aiding
distressed soldiers, sailors or marines, who had served in the civil war, or their widows and orphans, and
to improve the condition of such persons generally by providing employment. The present bureau is com-
posed of Andrew J. Lyons, chairman ; Geo. H. Jackson, secretary ; Jos. S. Cavendy, treasurer ; Henry
Eichorne, Harry Draper, Walter Westlake, Charles McFarland, Louis A. Wiebe, John G. Noonan, William
Kimball, John W. Chapman, Geo. S. Little, medical examiner; C. Hull Grant, M. J. Cummings. The bureau
is located in the committee rooms in the basement of the city hall. The memorial committee now consists
of the post commanders of the various posts of Kings County and one delegate for every fifty comrades in
each post. Mr. M. J. Cummings is the president and Mr. Geo. H. Jackson the secretary and practical direc-
tor of the bureau of relief.
On October 27, 1872, a number of charitably inclined men, all of whom were addicted to smoking, met
together and pledged themselves to put aside a penny for each cigar they should smoke, the amount thus
accumulated to be used for benevolent purposes. The association adopted the title The Williamsburgh
Benevolent Society, the object to be the relief and assistance of the worthy poor of the Eastern District.
The first annual report, issued January i, 1874, showed the income during the year to have been $271.37,
and donations to poor families $160.50. A. Meiner was the first president and John L. Mandel the first
secretary. The society's field of effort rapidly widened. Its resources, too, were increased by donations
and collections, and it gave aid to many deserving families. It was incorporated on December 3, 1881, by
Henry E. T. Voigt, William Diehl, Adam Dietrich, Frederick Huene, John L. Mandel, William Klein,
Robert Sneider and C. Volkman Zinssmann. The Turn-Verein has alloted the use of several rooms in its
building at 61 Meserole street to the society and these are used for meeting purposes and for the receiving
of applications and the dispensing of aid to the needy. The officers of the society serve gratuitously and
as a consequence all funds received go to the poor, there being absolutely no expenses to pay. The
eighteenth annual report of the treasurer shows receipts amounting to $3,540.70 and disbursements of
$i,oSO-97-
The Christian Rescue Temperance Union was organized in the spring of 1880 by Mrs. John Duer, of
South Brooklyn. Originally the society bore the name of the Rescue Juvenile Temperance Union and was
organized under that name on June 15, 1880, Mrs. Duer acting as superintendent and Mr. C. G. Johnston
as treasurer. The Union has usually directed its efforts toward rescuing the young, particularly those of
depraved parents, and in this line of work has had excellent success. A few months after the Union was
organized. Templar Hall, 476 Fifth avenue, was rented and a Saturday school and Sunday afternoon prayer-
meetings were instituted and have been continued from that time until now. In July, 1882, a meeting was
held at the residence of Mrs. Duer for the purpose of forming an adult department of the work and of
becoming an incorporated society. This was soon accomplished, the society assuming as its corporate title
the name it now bears. In August, 1882, Templar Hall was opened as a reading-room for the general
public, as well as for school and religious services. In January, 1886, a chapel, at the corner of Eighth
street and Fifth avenue, was secured, and there the work has been carried on since.
One of the most beautiful beneficences in the city of Brooklyn is the Flower and Fruit Charity, the
aim of which is to distribute flowers, fruits and other delicacies, reading matter, etc., among the sick poor in
hospitals, asylums and their own homes. It was organized in May, 1874, and the work has been carried on
ever since by a number of ladies, who are aided by voluntary contributions of money and supplies. They
meet regularly at 119 Montague street, arrange the donations and attend to their distribution. Miss J. H.
Duckwitz is president of the society.
The Hospital Saturday and Sunday Association of the City of Brooklyn is an organization
designed to interest the public in the cause of hospital charity; it originated with the appointment of a com-
mittee by the trustees of the Brooklyn Hospital on the suggestion of William G. Low to enlist all the hospitals
of the city in such an organization. The first meeting was held December 21, 1881. All the hospitals had
signified their willingness to join in the movement excepting the Roman Catholic hospitals, which declined
through Bishop Loughlin. A permanent organization was effected May 16, 1882, and the officers elected
were William G. Low, president ; William H. Fleeman, vice-president ; Rev. Dr. C. Cuthbert Hall, secre-
tary ; William M. Richards, treasurer. The association is not incorporated. Its objects are to induce
benevolent gifts for hospital purposes by bringing the claim of these charities simultaneously before the
public, to stimulate and foster the giving by personal donations and church collections on appointed days in
behalf of such institutions as the donor or donors may choose to assist, and to provide for obtaining and
distributing the gifts of those who sympathize with the general object of hospital charity, without having
interest in any special institution. To this end the last Saturday and Sunday in each year are devoted to a
simultaneous presentation of the claims of the following hospitals: Brooklyn Hospital, Long Island College
Hospital, Eastern District Hospital, Homoeopathic Hospital, Brooklyn Maternity, St. John's Hospital
66o
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Lutheran Hospital Association, Norwegian Relief Society and St. Martha's Sanitarium. The first annual
collection in 1S82 realized $4,351.22 ; in 1S92 the amount of the collection was $5,947.70.
The Brooklyn Guild Associ--\ti(1n was organized in 1S8S. The establishment of a kindergarten was
at first the principal motive, but when the first Guild House, at 245 Concord street, was opened in October,
1 888, there were also formed a mother's club, a 5'oung woman's club, a young men's club and a children's
club. There are about two hundred members of the guild, contributing in annual dues as many dollars.
The branch clubs now fostered by the general body are the kindergarten day school ; the Girls' Concordia
Club ; the Young Men's Concordia Club and the Hand-in-Hand Club, whose little girl members are taught
needlework, doll's dressmaking and physical culture. Every October the guild distributes, to those of the
members and neighbors who desire, growing plants to be cared for and reared in window decoration during
the winter for a joint exhibition in the spring.
The Brooklyn agency of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was
established October 31, 1881, under the superintendence of Mr. J. R- Pye. The present superintendent of
the Brooklyn branch is F. O. Clark, and the offices are at 415 Fulton street.
Among other prominent charitable organizations affording either special or general relief to the poor,
or to persons temporarily in need, are the following : The Norwegian Relief Society, at the corner of
Fourth avenue and Forty-si.xth street ; the Red Cross Society, at 195 Montague street, teaches how to
administer first aid to the injured; the Working Women's Vacation Society, at 172 South Ninth street,
which sends poor and overworked women to the country ; the King's Daughters Day Nursery, at 958
Atlantic avenue ; the Dominican Home, at the corner of Montrose and Graham avenues, for the care of
orphan children ; the orphanage department of the Church Charity Foundation, corner of Albany avenue
and Herkimer street ; St. Ann's Day Nursery, at 124 Lawrence street ; St. Giles' House, 422 Degraw street,
for crippled children ; St. Malachy's Home, at the corner of Atlantic and Van Siclen avenues, for destitute
children ; Brooklyn Home for Aged Colored People, Dean street, between Albany and Troy avenues ; Home
for the Aged, Church Charity Foundation, Albany avenue, near Herkimer street ; St. Peter's Home for the
Aged, 110 Congress street; the Wartburg Home for the Aged, Fulton street, near Sheffield avenue; the
Helping Hand Mission for homeless women ; and the Good Samaritan Association, with two buildings, on
Jay and Nassau streets, respectively.
.r::'
Seaside Home of the Children's Aid Society
-'U Coney Island,
The Brooklyn Hospital.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
N account of the establishment and growth of institutions in Brooklyn for the
care of the siclv or injured carries the reader no further back than to the
second quarter of the present century ; for it was not until 1839 that a hospital
was established here ; but the medical history of the territory now occupied by
the city begins with the advent of the first medical man in Breuckelen. His
name was Paulus Van Der Beeck and he arrived here in 1644, or not long after
— this being the most exact information to be gained from the chronicles of
that period. There was not much sickness among the hardy Dutch settlers of
those times that could not be cured by means of housewifely medical lore, and
so, perforce. Dr. Van Der Beeck became a sort of jack of all trades and, later
in his history, he is spoken of as " Dr. Paulus, surgeon and farmer." He pros-
pered and grew rich, according to the chronicle, but it was not by physicing folks. Gerardus W'illenise
Beekman was the ne,\t doctor to settle in the village, and he, it seems, combined two avocations now
esteemed as highly profitable, as he is described as having been "a physician and politician," and he
"remained an office holder until the time of his death." Later in the records there is an account of a Dr.
Nerbury's presenting a bill of ^6 4s. against the authorities "for taking care of a poor man at Mr.
Stryker's, of Flatbush." Dr. Hendrick Van Beuren is the ne.xt practitioner mentioned in the accounts of
the village, and besides putting in a number of bills which show him to have had considerable practice, he
distinguished himself by publishing in the New York Gazette, or Weekly Postboy, in May, 1754, a letter in
which he denounced " pretenders in the practice of physic and surgery," or what are now more tersely
denominated "quacks." It is said there were many such practicing about that time. Among Dr. Van
Beuren's contemporaries were Drs. John Lodewick and Harry Van De AVater. The fighting on Long
662 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Island during the revolutionary war brouglit many army physicians and surgeons to Brooi^lyn and vicinity,
and they were indefatigable in relieving as far as possible the sufferings of those confined in the temporary
military hospitals established in private houses, chui'ches and other buildings. At the close of the war a
number of these physicians settled here, among them being Dr. Beck, who established himself in Flatbush,
and Drs. John ]. Barbarin and John Dufheld, in Brooklyn. From this period until the organization of the
Kings County Medical Society, on April 2, 1822, the names of George A. Clussraan, Samuel Osborne,
Charles Ball and Matthew Wendell are among those which appear prominently in the local records of the
medical profession. The first officers of the Kings County Medical Society were : Cornelius Low, president ;
Matthew Wendell, vice-president ; Adrian Vanderveer, secretary ; and John Carpenter, treasurer. It was
left for Dr. Isaac J. Rapelyea, president of the society in 1835, to make the first determined effort towards
the permanent establishment of a hospital in Brooklyn. He urged the matter upon the attention of the
society in his inaugural address, delivered on July 13 of that year, and a memorial was presented to the
city council. It was without result and it was not until five years later that a public place was provided
where immediate aid could be rendered the injured. Then a few public-spirited citizens engaged physicians
and surgeons to attend patients in a house owned by Cyrus P. Smith, on Adams street, and on August 5,
1839, the common council appropriated $200 per annum for the support of this embryo hospital. In 1844
this appropriation was discontinued, but at a public meeting held on February 7 of the following year, a
committee was appointed to provide for the incorporation of a hospital, and in the following May an act
creating the Brooklyn City Hospital was passed by the legislature. This institution, which is elsewhere
more fully referred to, was the nucleus from which, indirectly at least, has proceeded that large nuiTjber of
hospitals, dispensaries and other similar establishments whose architectural beauty, completeness of
appointment and effectiveness of service constitute one of the grandest testimonials to Brooklyn's muni-
cipal progress and of the public-spirited liberality of her citizens. Of no class of citizens has Brooklyn
greater reason to be proud than of her medical men. The profession in this city has always been repre-
sentative of sterling integrity, distinguished ability and humane and charitable effort. Its members have
made enduring record for skillful service rendered in combating disease and death, for philanthropy
among the poor and for noble intrepidity in the face of pestilence and epidemic. During the four years
following April, 1861, the members of the Kings County Medical Society rendered gratuitous professional
services to the families of volunteers who were fighting for the Union, and a number of local practitioners
vclunteered to go to the front. The first homoeopathic physician to establish himself in Brooklyn was Dr.
Robert Rosman. This was in 1840, and he, with the other pioneer practitioners in the new school of medi-
cine, met with much opposition on the part of the allopaths. The law required that every practicing
physician should be a member of the county medical society, and this gave the doctors of the old school a
pronounced advantage over the newcomers. Dr. Rosman had been admitted to the Kings County Medi-
cal Society without opposition, but when Drs. A. C. Hull and P. P. Wells, the ne.xt two homoeopaths who
sought to practice in this city, applied for membership they were refused, the society making use of its
privilege to reject such applicants as they might declare unworthy. Dr. Hull took the matter to the courts
to establish his qualification for membership. Decision was rendered in his favor, but his opponents by
means of repeated appeals, until the case reached the highest court, kept the matter in litigation sixteen
years. Dr. Hull triumphed finally, however, but did not accept membership in the society, for on November
12, 1857, the Homoeopathic Medical Society of Kings County was incorporated, and he became its first presi-
dent. Thenceforward the new school of medicine prospered in Brooklyn, and its progress was marked by
the establishment from time to time of the present system of pharmacies, dispensaries and hospitals. The
eclectic school of medicine was established here in 1847, Dr. D. E. Smith being its first exponent. On
October i, 1S56, the Eclectic Medical Society of Kings County was organized, and in the same year
the Brooklyn Academy of Medicine was established, the avowed objects of its members being to investigate
all medical methods, without prejudice, and to adopt the best means of curing disease. The later history
of medicine and surgery in this city has been one of continued advancement, and the attainment of dis-
tinguished reputation and eminence on the part of local practitioners in the various branches of the healing
art ; and in this connection is given some account, in detail, of the various local medical and surgical insti-
tutions.
The first of these to be established, the Brooklvn Hospital, was incorporated on May 8, 1845, as
the "Brooklyn City Hospital." Later a change was made in the legal title of the institution by the
omission of the word "city" in order to remove the prevailing impression that it was a municipal institu-
tion supported from the city treasury. In 1848 the growth of the city and a generous gift of the late
Augustus Graham opened the way for more extended efforts. The present hospital at DeKalb avenue and
Raymond street was opened to the public in May, 1852. The Orthopedic Dispensary was opened in 1869
to meet the pressing needs of the more dependent class of citizens. The Training School for Nurses has
developed into a strong and successful institution and is now doing most effective work in connection with
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
663
the hospital. A home for the nurses has recently been provided on the hospital grounds. This school was
organized as an independent institution. The initial steps of establishment were taken in November, 18S0,
by a few ladies who, through their active interest in the Fruit and Flower Charity and the distrdnition of
its gifts in the hospitals and homes of the city, had been led to appreciate the pressing need for better
nursing of the sick. The first board of officers consisted of Mrs. A. J. Perry, president ; Mrs. C. L.
Mitchell, vice-president ; Mrs. Seth Low, corresponding secretary ; Miss Dora B. Robinson, recording
secretary ; William G. Low, treasurer ; Mrs. C. T. Pierce, assistant treasurer. The following year Mrs.
Seth Low was elected president and held that office until 1891, when the Brooklyn Training School for
Nurses passed from the control of its board of officers and managers into that of the trustees of the Brook-
lyn Hospital, becoming an integral part of that institution. An efficient ambulance service was established
in connection with the hospital in 1889. The officers of the hospital in 1892 were : William G. Low, presi-
dent ; Henry P. Morgan, vice-president ; Edward Merritt, treasurer ; Edward H. Kidder, secretary ;
Charles V. Dudley, superintendent.
What is now known as the Long Island Collkoe Hospital and Training School for Nurses was
chartered by the legislature in 1858. It was the successor of an organization which, under the title of St.
Long Island College Hospital.
John's Hospital, on November 5, 1857, took charge of what had been the German Dispensary and on Decem-
ber 23 of the same year opened a hospital at 147 Court street. There the quarters were soon found to be
inadequate, and shortly after the change of name had been made the Perry mansion and grounds, in the
block bounded by Pacific, Henry and Amity streets, were purchased. There the Long Island College
Hospital was established, and in i860 the medical college in connection with it was fully organized. From
time to time alterations and additions to the structure were made, brick and stone .took the place of wood,
and finally the present admirably appointed structure was completed, and the hospital became one of the
best and most conveniently arranged in the country. It was not without a hard struggle, however, that the
institution reached its present prominent position. During the Civil war the hospital was crowded, a large
number of the inmates being government beneficiaries, and it received all necessary assistance in carrying on
its work, but at the close of the conflict there came a reaction which threatened the very e-vistence of the
hospital. The prospects had become very dark indeed, when Drs. Theodore L. Mason, AVilliam H. Dudley
and Chauncey L.Mitchell offered to continue the work at their own expense. Their offer was accepted, and
they succeeded in raising enough money among themselves and their friends to pay off the entire intlebted-
ness of the institution. Thenceforward the progress of the Long Island College Hospital, if not at all times
rapid, has been at least continuous. Its accommodations and facilities were increased, the personnel of its
664
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
staff became of the highest order of experience and ability, and the field of its usefulness constantly widened.
Its medical college was the first in this country to introduce clinical teaching, by which effective graded
instruction was greatly facilitated. Connected with the hospital proper are a dispensary, an ambulance
system and a training school for nurses. The sources of income include an annual appropriation of $4,000
from the city, a portion of the excise moneys, the amounts received from paying patients and subscriptions
by the managers and their friends. The government of the institution is vested in a board of regents and
a medical board, and there is also a faculty of the hospital and a faculty of the college. The last three
bodies constitute a joint board, which submits to the regents such plans for the improvement of the institu-
tion as may be agreed upon. Alexander J. C. Skene, M. D., long the dean of the faculty, was elected
president in March, 1893, and was succeeded as dean by J. S. Wight, M. D. Thomas S. Moore is president
of the board of officers, succeeding Thomas H. Rodman, who had served from 1875 to the time of his
death in 1S92. The total number of graduates from the institution from its organization until June, 1892,
was 1,336.
The Memorial Hospital for AVomen and Children (formerly the Brooklyn Woman's Homceo-
pathic Hospital and Dispensary) was founded by a few earnest women, who had consecrated their lives to
the study and practice of medicine. Impressed with the need for medical treatment required by the large
number of shop girls, and knowing their reluctance to go to the public hospitals for admission, these
women opened a dispensary on Myrtle avenue, near Grand avenue, in 1881. Their work grew and incor-
poration was secured in April, 1883. In the spring of 1887, as the need for hospital accommodations
became more apparent, the managers hired a building at 1318 Fulton street, where a few patients were
received and another dispensary was opened. In 1890 a building at 811 Bedford avenue was leased and
the dispensary work was all consolidated. In 1891 the hospital was removed to 200 South Oxford street
where a larger building had been secured. This house proved inadequate to its wants, and in 1892 the
hospital was removed to 808 Prospect place. In 1891 the Memorial Training School for Nurses was incor-
porated. The staff of physicians in the Memorial Hospital consists exclusively of women. The officers in
1892 were: Mrs. J. H. Burtis, president ; Mrs. J. L. Marcellus, first vice-president; Mrs. T. W. Lowell
second vice-president ; Miss A. K. Mirrielees, recording secretary ; Mrs. A. H. Tifft, corresponding secre-
tary ; Mrs. C. C. Martin, treasurer.
The German Hospital Association was organized in 1889 for the purpose of founding a general
hospital particularly, but not exclusively, for Germans. Several years were spent in raising funds and
acquiring land, and 1892 work was begun toward erecting a hospital building on St. Nicholas avenue, near
Himrod street. John H. Doscher is president of the association.
The Lutheran Hospital Association maintains an institution at East New York avenue and Carroll
street for nursing the sick and wounded. It was established in 1881. There are no restrictions as to the age
or religious affiliations of those admitted. Edward Hanselt is president of the association, and the hospital
is in charge of Miss E. E. Roeselhi. The city pays $1,500 a year toward the expenses of the institution.
St. Mary's Hospital, on St. Mark's avenue, between Rochester and Buffalo avenues, is under the
charge of the Sisters of Charity. The ground upon which the structure stands occupies an entire block,
which was purchased by the
late Bishop Loughlin in 1878. •
On October 18, 1879, the
corner-stone of the hospital
building was laid, and the
first patients were admitted
the latter part of November,
1882. The incorporators, who
also constituted the first board
of trustees, were the Right
Rev. Bishop Loughlin, Rev.
E.J. O'Reilly, John D. Iveiley,
Jr., John J. Kiernan, Dr. John
Byrne, James Clyne and three
members of the Order of St.
A^incent de Paul. St. Mary's
Hospital is non-sectarian, and
a very large number of non-
paying patients are annually treated within its walls. These are supported by contributions and money
received from the city and excise funds. The medical and surgical staff of the hospital includes many men
who have attained very high professional positions as specialists.
St. Mary's Hospital.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
66s
St. Catherine's Hospital, which is conducted under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church of
the Most Holy Trinity, was established in 1869 in the old Thursby farmhouse on Bushwick avenue. It
soon outgrew its original quarters and the erection of a suitable building was discussed. A location was
secured on Montrose avenue and building operations continued during 1874, 1875 and 1S76, the new
hospital being first occupied on September 8, 1876. The buildings are large, convenient and finely appointed,
the total cost of land and structures amounting to nearly $250,000. The managers of the hospital are the
officers of the church under whose auspices it is conducted.
St. John's Hospital and the Atlantic Avenue Dispensary are part of the Church Charity Founda-
tion of Long Island, of which Bishop Littlejohn is president, the work being conducted entirely by the
Protestant Episcopal Church of Long Island. The hospital and dispensary were organized by a special
St. John's Hospital.
committee of the board of managers in the summer of 187 1, and located at 1620 Fulton street, the store
being used as a dispensary and the upper floors for hospital purposes. Under the charge of Sister Julia the
hospital has been carried on twenty years. In 1872 the hospital was moved to the building on Herkimer
street now used as a home for the aged, and the dispensary was located at 849 Atlantic avenue. In 1873
the managers erected a separate building for the hospital. This was succeeded by the brick structure on
the corner of Atlantic and Albany avenues, which was completed in 1883. The managers of the hospital
are the Rev. S. M. Haskins, D. D., chairman, the Rev. Chauncey B. Brewster, W. H. Fleeman, Lyman R.
Green, James S. Connell, Dr. William Wallace and C. H. Phillips. The managers of the dispensary are the
Rev. H. T. Scudder, J. W. Whiting and Thomas Hegeman.
The establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Hospital was suggested in an editorial article pub-
lished on January 27, 1881, in the Christian Advocate, in which the duty of the church in the matter of provid-
ing charitable foundations for the care of the sick was strongly urged. In its issue of February 27 the Christian
Advocate published an offer from George I. Seney, of Brooklyn, to give a site in Brooklyn for a Methodist
hospital and to subscribe $200,000 toward the expense of building such an institution. Following this a
meeting was held on February 28 to take steps for the acceptance of Mr. Seney's offer and the carrying out
of the proposition. As a result of that meeting the legislature was asked for a charter and it was granted,
establishing a body corporate to be known as "The Methodist Episcopal Hospital in the City of Brooklyn."
Under this charter a permanent organization was effected at a meeting held on April 2, i88r. James M.
Buckley, D.D., was elected president and James N. Fitzgerald, D. I)., secretary of the board of managers.
A building committee was appointed, and it was announced that the city block bounded by Seventh and
and Eighth avenues, between Si.xth and Seventh streets, had been purchased by Mr. Seney, who had secured
666
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
the title to the hospital. The block has an area of about three and a half acres. The corner-stone of the
main central building was laid on September 20, 1S82. The plan of the hospital contemplates nine build-
ings, and of this number two lateral pavilions were begun at the same time with the main central buildmg.
In May 18S4, the three buildings were roofed in but were not finished ; the cost of land and the expenses
of construction until that date represented a total outlay of $410,000, all of which had been furnished by
Mr Seney. The board of managers then undertook the occupation of the buildings, and appealed to the
Methodist' Episcopal Church for funds with which to put the hospital in operation. The work of raising the
required money was undertaken first by the Rev. George P. Mains and later by the Rev. John S. Breckin-
ridge whose energetic and successful labors in this direction continue to assist the great enterprise in its
progress toward completion. One of the pavilions was the first of the buildings to be completed and on
December 15, 1887, it was dedicated and formally opened for the reception of the sick. Since then one
floor of the main central building has been so far completed as to permit the opening of a ward for children
Methodist Episcopal (Popularly Called the " Seney ") Hospital.
and a number of rooms for private patients, while in the basement of this building rooms for the adminis-
trative departments of the institution have been provided. The accommodations of the hospital in 1892
allowed for the care of about seventy patients, and there had been established an active ambulance service
which responds to about one thousand calls in a year. When completed the hospital will be one of the
largest and most admirably equipped institutions of the kind in America, containing nearly three hundred
beds and prepared to care for more than forty-five hundred patients annually. The board of officers con-
sists of James M. Buckley, D. D., president ; James McGee, vice-president ; Lewis S. Pilcher, M. D., secre-
tary; John French, treasurer; Rev. John S. Breckinridge, superintendent.
At Kingston avenue and Fenimore street, Flatbush, a short distance north of the county buildings, is
the Brooklyn Hospital for CoNrAGious Diseases, or small-pox hospital. For years the citizens of
Brooklyn who were afflicted with contagious or infectious diseases were removed to the county hospital, but
the day came when the facilities for handling such diseases there were inadequate and the department of
heath, represented by its commissioner, resolved upon the erection of a separate building for the purpose.
The fight for it was a long and hard one, but a bill passed the legislature which authorized its establishment
and appropriated the money necessary for construction. The search for a site resulted in the choice of a
seven-acre lot at the point above named. The people of Flatbush made determined but unsuccessful
opposition to the enterprise from the first, and after the building was completed obtained an injunction
restraining the health department from making use of it. This injunction was vacated, and after a whil^
local opposition to the establishment died out. The main, or administration building, is a handsome
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
667
two-story and basement structure with a frontage of eighty feet, a depth of forty-four and a large extension.
It is faced with Philadelphia brick. Back of this administration building are five pavilions of wood in which
the patients are kept. There is ground in plenty for the construction of as many of these buildings as
the necessities of the occasion may require. A little apart from the administration building and the
pavilions are the boiler-house and the stable. The original cost of the hospital, including site, was about
$60,000. About $12,000 covers the annual cost of maintenance. People living in the county towns are
received the same as residents of the city, an act of charity which is really a safeguard against the spread of
disease. Treatment is free, but a plan is now on foot to furnish the fifth pavilion for patients who are both
able and willing to pay for their treatment. The hospital was opened in November. 1891, with Henry Bulwinkle,
M. D., as superinten-
dent. Although a
young man the docter's
success at the head of
the institution has been
remarkable. Until the
first of October, 1892,
there were one hun-
dred and forty-seven
cases in his charge, of
which he lost only
seventeen. These
cases comprised eighty
of small-pox, with ten
deaths; thirty of diph-
theria, with four
deaths ; scarlet fever,
twenty-four, with two
deaths ; measles, nine,
with one death ; three
cases of erysipelas and
one of yellow fever,
with no deaths. A won-
derful record. A. P.
Delette, M. D., is assis-
tant superintendent. ■^■'- ''"'''''' "-"'tal.
The late Rev. Joseph Fransioli, assisted by several of the Sisters of the Poor of St, Francis, established
St. Peter's Hospital in the double house at Hicks and Congress streets in 1864, and besides caring for a
number of patients during that year they gave a temporary home to over two hundred children of soldiers
who were serving in the Union array. The hospital was incorporated in 1866, and thenceforward the
accommodations were repeatedly increased until, finally, the present commodious structure was erected.
The Sisters of St. Francis, who have charge of the institution, visit the homes of the sick poor and receive
in the hospital those suffering from injuries or sickness, regardless of creed or color. There are at this
writing 170 patients being cared for. The income of the hospital is derived from city and excise funds and
the contributions of the charitable. The field of beneficence is confined to no particular district, as patients
from all parts of the city and suburbs are received.
The Brooklyn Hoiie for Consumptives is one of the local charitable institutions of the hospstal
class which is operated altogether on the broad principles of humanity. It has been in existence about
eleven years, although the present quarters were not established until 1888, and during that time it has
offered to consumptive invalids of either sex, and of every race, creed and color, succor and solace, free of
cost. Half a dozen philanthropic men and women, having learned that the doors of all the city hospitals
were closed against this class of sufferers, and that the almshouse was their only refuge, issued a call to
the benevolent people of Brooklyn, with the object of discussing the ways and means to establish an insti-
tution for consumptives. The meeting was held in Plymouth Church, and in due time a society was formed,
and later incorporated as the "Garfield Memorial Home." In August, i888, a dwelling house was rented
on Washington avenue, and placed in charge of a matron, one nurse and a servant. Eight months later, as
the result of a liberal public response, the trustees were enabled to purchase the building at 219 Raymond
street, which was occupied for several years, until the institution again needed larger quarters. The first
year sixty-nine persons were sheltered and nursed. After the work of the institution had expanded and
become known the name was then changed to the Brooklyn Home for Consumptives. Several lots were
668
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
purchased soon after on Kingston avenue, between Douglass and Butler streets, on which a new Home was
erected at a total cost of about $So,ooo, It is a neat three-story brick structure of modern architecture
and will accommodate, beside the staff of nurses, employees, etc., about seventy-five patients. Fourteen of
the beds are endowed, and none remain empty long. The building and grounds were purchased with a
fund made up entirely of gifts from the charitable people of Brooklyn, and were first occupied in September
iSSS. As all the patients in such an institution are very weak — many on the verge of death — requiring the
most delicate and nutritious of foods, the cost is necessarily heavy. The annual expense of the Brooklyn
Home, which is now free of debt, is about $20,000, made up by subscriptions, with the exception of a small
state appropriation and a sum from the excise moneys. Only those consumptives who are utterly destitute
are received. Since the beginning of the good work 1,430 patients have been cared for, many of whom
have been discharged improved, and even cured. During the year 1892 233 patients were admitted. The
officers are : Mrs. S. V. White, president ; IVIrs. J. S. Plummer, first vice-president ; Mrs. E. L. Molineux
second vice-president ; Mrs. Thomas Hewitt, recording secretary ; Mrs. H. B. Piatt, corresponding secre-
tary ; Mrs. Benjamin Edson, treasurer.
The Eastern District Hospital and Dispensary, at 108 South Third street, had its origin in the
Williamsburgh Dispensary, which was established on September i, 1851, at South First and Fifth streets
Eastern District HospiT.-iL.
largely through the efforts of Captain Samuel Groves. He continued president of the dispensary associa-
tion until his death. Among the first physicians of the staff were Drs. C. H Schapps, E. M. Colt and B.
F. Bassett. Li i860 the dispensary was removed to 165 Fourth street, and subsequently hospital accom-
modations were provided, and the institution was given its present title. Later the South Third street site
was purchased, and what is now one of the finest hospital buildings in this city was erected. George H.
Fisher is president of the board of trustees, and the institution is under the charge of Dr. E. P. OrreH. It
receives a share of city and excise moneys. During the year 1891 the board of trustees purchased land
adjoining the hospital building, and in 1892 began the erection thereon of an additional wing for dispensary
uses, intending to reserve the main building exclusively for a hospital.
The Long Island Throat and Lung Hospital and People's Dispensary, which is located at
1025 Gates avenue, near Broadway, was incorporated on May 31, 1889, and reincoiporated on March 24,
1891, to furnish special treatment to those afflicted with diseases of the nose, throat, eyes, ears and lungs, the
treatment to l>e free to the worthy poor. Its board of directors is composed of representative citizens and
prominent clergymen. D. M. Woolley, M. D., instructor in diseases of the ear, eye and throat in the New
York Polyclinic Hospital, is surgeon-in-chief, Much good work has been done for this hospital by the
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
669
churches and the Ladies' Auxiliary Society. The officers of the hospital association are : Thomas J. Kenna,
president; Benjamin Lewis, first vice-president; Rev. James S. Chadwick, 1). D., second vice-president;
George H. Fisher, counsel ; Frank P. Sellers, treasurer ; D. Morris Woolley, M, D., secretary.
The Brooklyn Throat Hospit.^l, at Bedford avenue and South Third street, one of the most admir-
able and useful institutions in the state for the treatment of the nose, throat, eye, ear and lungs, was
founded largely through the efforts of Dr. Reuben Jeffery, and was opened to the public in 1889; B. G.
Latimer being the first president and Rev. Henry A. Powell, D. D., the first secretary. It is non-sectarian,
and its affairs are managed by a board of fifty directors, the present officers being : Henry A. Powell,
president ; Andrew D. Baird and J. Henry Dick, vice-presidents ; Robert P. Lethbridge, treasurer ; and
Robert L. Wensley, secretary. There is a staff of eighteen physicians. The average number of inmates is
fifty, and 23,000 patients were treated in the out-door department during 1S92. The hospital is supported
by voluntary contributions.
HoMCEOP.-iTHic Hospital.
The Brooklyn Homieopathic Hospital had its beginning in December, 1S52, as the Brooklyn Homoe-
pathic Dispensary, which was incorporated for the gratuitous medical relief of the sick and destitute by
means of homoeopathic remedies. Its incorporators were Edward W. Dunham, John A. Davenport, Theo-
dore Victor, Samuel G. Arnold, Sheldon P. Church, John N. Taylor, Albert G. Allen, Edward Corning and
Alfred S. Barnes. The dispensary began its work at 50 Court street, and twelve years later moved to 178
Atlantic avenue, where it remained until 187 i. In that year an act of the legislature was passed, changing
the name of the dispensary to the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Hospital. The act increased the number of its
trustees to thirty-five. In 1882 the number of the trustees was, by another act of the legislature, increased to
fifty. The dispensary continued its work in Atlantic avenue until 187 1, when Dr. A. E. Sumner secured the
premises on Cumberland street and Carlton avenue, between Myrtle and Park avenues, which were formerly
owned by the Brooklyn Orphan Asylum, and upon which there was an old but substantial building. The
work of the institution progressed so rapidly that it was soon found necessary to increase the size of the
building by adding a wing at the southerly end. Later another wing was added at the north end, running
from the back of the old building to Carlton avenue. Again the institution outgrew its facilities, and in
1888 the trustees determined to erect an entirely new building, the two wings being used and incorporated
in the structure. The premises now consist of eight full city lots, 100 feet on Cumberland street and run-
ning through to Carlton avenue, a distance of 200 feet. In 1880 a training school for nurses was established.
The first class was graduated in 1882. Since that time there have been graduated in all seventy-si.x nurses.
One of the most important organizations connected with the hospital is the Ladies' Aid Association, founded
670
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
1
in 1S74, upon whose efforts the hospital largely depends for the means to meet its expenses. It has given
public social festivities and entertainments, by which the revenues of the hospital have been largely increased
The establishment of the likooicrA'N Eye and E.ar Hi^spital was primarily due to tlie efforts of Drs
A. Matthewson and H. Newton. These gentlemen, realizing the need of such an institution, consulted in
1S68 with I^rs. C R. Agnew, E. G. Loring and Daniel R St. John Roosa, of New York, upon the subject
The project was favorably considered and the five doctors already mentioned associated themselves with a
score or more of lirooklyn's influential and charitable citizens and formed the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hos-
pital Association. The first meeting was held in the spring of 1868, a permanent organization formed and
officers elected. The institution was incorporated on May 4, 1868, and a house at Johnson and Wash-
ington streets was rented. These quarters were soon outgrown and in a short time the building at iqo
Washington street was bought, where the work of the hospital greatly increased. In 1882 the house at qa
Livingston street, which is now occupied, was purchased at a cost of $48,500. It was enlarged and reno-
vated in 1891 at an expense of $6,000. In 1873 ths treatment of the skin and throat was added to that of
the eye and ear, and in 1878 the treatment of nervous diseases was also included. In 1891 the hospital
treated 10,567 people. The total number of cases received since April 15, 1S68, when the hospital was
opened, until December 31, 1891, was 117,168, The present officers are : Cornelius D. Wood, president •
Thomas E. Stillman, vice-president ; A. D. Wheelock, treasurer ; F. H. Colton, M. D., secretary.
Kings Cou.vtv Hospital.
The Kings County Hospital is one of the county institutions at Flatbush, and has been in operation
since 1837. It is intended for the destitute sick, without restriction as to age, and is under the supervision
of the board of commissioners of charities and corrections. The cost of its maintenance in 1892, when the
total number of inmates was 3,080, was $79,75°- J- T. Duryea, M. D., is the medical superintendent.
The Norwegian Lutheran Deaconesses' Home and Hospital, at Forty-sixth street and Fourth
avenue, is for the relief of suffering Norwegians without regard to age. It is a denominational institution,
and was founded in 1886. C. Ullenass is president, and Sister Elizabeth Fedde has charge of the institution.
The Chinese Hospital Association was incorporated on January 5, 1891. It is a result of the efforts
of the "King's Daughters for China." The objects of the association are to maintain a hospital for the
treatment of Chinese afflicted with diseases not contagious. Following are the first and present officers of
the society : Edward Braislin, D. D., president ; Dr. Nelson B. Sizer, secretary ; Dr. Charles E. Bruce, treas-
urer ; Mrs. N. B. Sizer, assistant treasurer; Dr. Joseph C. Thomas, superintendent; Drs. William A. Little,
C. E. Bruce, and N. B. Sizer, medical staff. The hospital is located at 45 Hicks street, where until May
I, 1892, 76 patients had been admitted. A ladies' auxiliary board, under the presidency of Mrs. N. B. Sizer,
assists in the work.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS. 671
The Brooklyn Maternity, in connection with which is the New York State Training School for
Nurses, is the outcome of the work of several charitable ladies who, in the fall of 1870, held a meeting to
discuss the project. The first regular meeting of the organization was held in January, 187 1, when the fol-
lowing officers were elected : Mrs. B. C. Mitchell, first directress ; Mrs. A. Burtis, second directress ; Mrs.
C. E. Arbuckle, third directress ; Mrs. W. T. Coale, treasurer ; Mrs. Tobias New, corresponding secretary ;
Miss Mary A. Downs, recording secretary. The Maternity was incorporated in February of the same year
under the title of the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Lying-in Asylum. Subsequently a charter was obtained
for a nursery, a woman's and children's hospital and lastly a branch of the New York State Training School
for Nurses; this being the first school of the kind established in the United States. The title of the
Brooklyn Maternity was then adopted. The property now occupied by the institution, at 46 and 48 Con-
cord street, was purchased in 1873. This has recently been sold and land for new buildings has been pur-
chased and a building fund instituted.
Not a few prominent physicians have received material benefit from their early training in the Brooklyn
City Dispens.^ry, which was opened to the public on August 10, 1846, and incorporated on March 13, 1850.
It was moved about to various localities from time to time, until in 1864 the trustees raised sufficient
money to purchase and equip a building on Tillary street, between Fulton and Washington streets. The
premises were admirably arranged for its purposes and a thoroughly competent medical and surgical staff
was secured, and the character of xX.'i personnel has ever since been maintained. The extent of the benefi-
cent work accomplished by the dispensary is shown by the fact that during 1890-1891 there ware 34,592
patients treated and 34,853 prescriptions given out. The officers of the institution in 1892 were: Samuel
Rowland, president; R. S. Bussing, vice-president; Leonard C. Bond, treasurer; Henry Warren Beebe,
secretary.
The Brooklyn Central Dispensary was established on August i, 1855, at the corner of Fulton street
and Hanson place, in response to a demand in the upper part of the city for free medical service and
medicine that the Brooklyn City Dispensary could not supply. The incorporators of the institution were
the Rev. Josiah West, James Van Dyk, William Swift, Wm. B. Badge, T. L. Majaganos, William H. Hallock,
Ale.xis H. Crittenden and D. Thompkins Dodge. The dispensary was moved to Flatbush avenue and
Nevins street in 1858. Drs. Crittenden, Hallett, Swift, Gray, Teller and Black formed the first volunteer
medical staff. On May i, 1870, the dispensary was located at 104 Flatbush avenue, where it remained
until the increased number of patients necessitated a removal to larger quarters. The building at 29 Third
street was purchased by the trustees in March, 1890, and entirely remodeled to suit the needs of the
dispensary. During August, 1855, there were 114 patients treated ; during February, 1892, the number of
patients was 1,931. The present officers are: Theophilus Olena, president; Thomas E. Pearsall and
Michael H. Haggarty, vice-presidents ; N. H. Clement, treasurer ; George V. Brower, secretary.
The Southern Dispensary and Hospital, at 119 Third place, was located there shortly after its
incorporation in 1874. It was established at Sackett and Court streets the year previous, with Dr. Nathaniel
Ford as its first president. Theodore Ritter now holds that office and the institution is under the charge
of Dr. L. W. Pearson. It receives an annual appropriation from the city and excise funds.
The Bedford Dispensary was established by Drs. William Waterworth and W. E. Conroy in October,
1880, and was supported by their voluntary efforts for nearly a year. The great increase in the number of
patients in that time led to the incorporation of the institution in June, 1881, by William G. Hoople, George
Stannard, H. L. Judd, Thomas P. Wilkinson, Oliver P. Edgerton and H. Waller Brinckerhoff. The officers
for the first year were the above-named gentlemen, as trustees, with William G. Hoople, president ; Thomas
P. Wilkinson, vice-president ; George Stannard, treasurer ; H. Waller Brinckerhoff, secretary. The medi-
cal staff consists of Drs. William Waterworth, Jared Wilson, and A. M. Curry ; Dr. C. F. Dubois, dentist,
and a number of consulting physicians. There is also a ladies' visiting committee. The institution during
its period of early growth moved from one place to another on Fulton street. Later two frame buildings
on Ralph avenue, near Atlantic, were obtained and converted into a suitable house for the work and in
May, 1892, the new building was opened.
The Bush wick and East Brooklyn Dispensary, at Myrtle and Lewis avenues, was opened on March
I, 1878, under the auspices of members of St. Barnabas' and St. Matthew's P. E. churches, a charter having
been previously obtained. The. institution soon covered a wide field of usefulness, and numbered among its
officers and staff a number of representative men. Dr. Edward Braislin is president of the association, and
Dr. J. C. Thoms is in charge of the dispensary.
The Brooklyn Medical Mission No. i was established in March, 1887, as the Red Hook Dispensary,
No. I, by Dr. Le Lacheur as a branch of the International Medical Missionary Society, for the purpose
of combining Christian instruction with medical charity. The mission is located at 412 Van Brunt street,
and there is a Brooklyn Medical Mission, No, 2, at 305 Concord street, the latter having been organized in
1889. Dr. William Stewart has charge of both branches.
672 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
The Brooklyn Diet Dispensary is unique among the charitable institutions of this city. It was
established for the purpose of supplying the indigent sick \tith nourishing food, on the certificate of a
physician that such was requisite to the successful treatment of the case. It is sustained by voluntary sub-
scriptions, and by the appropriations from the state and e.xcise funds ; its accounts have never yet exhibited
a balance on the wrong side of the ledger. The institution is possessed of a certain permanent income from
sources which, including the Julia E. Brick fund of $5,000, aggregate in value $7,559- The main office, where
the meetings of the directors are held, is situated in the frame building at 21 DeKalb avenue, and there are
additional dispensaries at 883 Myrtle avenue, 289 Sackett street, 379 South First street, 86 Dikeman street
and 39 Sumpter street. The institution dates from a meeting held on the evening of December 29, 1875, at
the residence of Mrs. George Stannard, 381 Franklin avenue. The following officers were appointed to
manage the organization during the first year of its existence ; Mrs. George Stannard, president ; Mrs. F. B.
Fisher, vice-president; John W. Hunter, treasurer; Mrs. J. C. Hoagland, assistant treasurer; Mrs. James
Scrimgeour, secretary. The dispensary was incorporated on March 5, 1877, by Mrs. George Stannard, Mrs.
F. B. Fisher, Mrs. James Thompson, Mrs. J. C. Hoagland and the Misses Alice Hewitt and A. W. Gleason.
The first kitchen was opened at 49 High street, and the dispensaiy established its first branch, on Atlantic
avenue, on June 4, 1877. From the six dispensaries ministering to the needy in various portions of the city,
more than six thousand patients are annually benefited. The officers of the dispensary are : Mrs. J. S.
Plummer, president ; Mrs. Peter Bogert, treasurer ; Mrs. R. B. Fithian, recording secretary ; Mrs. George
A. Allin, corresponding secretary.
On June 26, 1889, a charter was granted to St. Martha's Sanitarium and Dispensary, which was estab-
lished for the treatment of chronic and incurable diseases other than consumption. The institution was at
first located on Washington avenue, but subsequently the grounds and buildings at Dean street and Kings-
ton avenue were purchased at a cost of about $30,000. The progress of St. Martha's during its existence
has been marked by the relief of much suffering and a constantly increasing demand upon its resources.
The work of the institution has met with a wide appreciation and has been from time to time advanced by
life endowments, donations and church collections. The board of officers consists of Miss Thomasine
Mary Kearny, president ; the Rev. William G. Webb, vice-president ; Mrs. George W. Dickinson, secretary ;
James C. Abbott, treasurer ; Mrs. C. E. Hyatt, chairman executive committee.
The Gates Avenue Homoeopathic Dispensary was established on February 19, 1867. The institution
was incorporated by Thomas L. Thorp, John Simpkins, John B. Norris, Peter Noltiman, Myron H. Strong,
Volney Aldridge and Grosvenor Lowrey, on charter bearing the date of March 9, 1867. The first house
physician was Dr. S. Hopkins Keep, brother of Dr. J. Lester Keep, one of the principal movers in the
organization. Dr. S. Hopkins succeeded Dr. Keep on January i, 1880, and served until his death in
October, 1887. During this time the dispensary was located at the junction of Gates and Fulton avenues.
On October i, 1885, the trustees purchased the brick building at 13 Gates avenue and fitted up the second
floor for dispensary purposes. This is the present home of the institution. The dispensary work has
grown largely but has been fully equaled by the outside work of the physicians, which is entirely one of
private charity. The officers are : Robert D. Benedict, president ; Wm. B. Boorum, treasurer ; V. Aldridge,
secretary.
The Eastern District Hom(£Opathic Dispensary, at 194 and 196 South Third street, is an unsec-
tarian institution which furnishes medical aid to the sick poor. It was incorporated on March 14, 1872,
through the efforts of the late Dr. William Wright and a number of other prominent citizens, the first offi-
cers having been Dr. Wright, president ; James A. Faulkner, secretary ; and William E. Horwell, treasurer.
A portion of its income is derived from city and excise funds. George V. Tompkins was president in 1892,
the dispensary being under the charge of Dr. J. Albro Eaton.
The Central Homieopathic Dispensary had its inception in September, 1883, at a meeting held at
the residence of Mrs. Almeda M. Pond, 14 Spencer street. The institution was incorporated a month later.
The dispensary is located on the second floor of 39 Sumpter street and is under the medical direction of Dr.
Edward W. Avery. The present officers are : Mrs. William Hart, president ; Mrs. John F. Cook, vice-
president ; Mrs. Henry M. Johnson, secretary; Mr. Jerome Allen, treasurer.
The Lucretia Mott Dispensary affords medical and surgical treatment to women and children by
women practitioners. It was established on October 31, 1S81, and incorporated soon afterward. It is
under the charge of Anna F. Rowe, M. D. ; the Rev. S H. Camp is president.
Dr. Wells' Sanitarium, a private institution designed for the care of that class of female patients
who suffer from nervous or mental diseases, yet do not require the restraint of a large asylum, is located at
945 St. Mark's avenue. It is under the personal supervision of the proprietor, Thomas L. Wells, M. D.
The Faith Home for Incurables was established on December 2, 1878, at 112 Lexington avenue, for
the purpose of caring for incurable invalids. In 1880 A. S. Barnes, together with other friends of the charity,
built a commodious edifice at Classon avenue and Park place for the use of the Home. This building will
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
673
accommodate about fifty patients. The property of the Home is valued at about $40,000 and it has an
mcome about sufficient for its wants. Following is the board of officers : C. D. Wood, president ; James M
Ham, treasurer ; Dr. S. B. Childs, secretary ; Miss A. H. Campbell, manager.
With the object of redeeming those addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors and furnishing an
asylum where they would be removed from temptation and receive skilled and effective treatment, the
Inebriates' Home for Kings County was incorporated on May 9, 1867. A temporary home was estab-
Inebriates' Home, Fort Hamilton.
lished at Bushwick avenue and Chestnut street on October 10, of the same year. Subsequently the sum of
$200,000 was provided, to be paid out of excise receipts, for the erection of suitable buildings. This
money was converted into United States bonds and finally the present home, near Fort Hamilton, was
built. George Hall, J. S. T. Stranahan and Dr. Theodore L. Mason have been presidents of the institution.
That office is now occupied by G. G. Herman, Dr. J. A. Blanchard being the superintendent, with 194
inmates under his charge.
Other local medical and surgical institutions are the Nose, Throat and Lung Dispensary, at 545
Fulton street ; the Atlantic Avenue Dispensary, at Atlantic and Waverly avenues ; the Eclectic Dis-
pensary, 142 Prince street ; the Hahnemann Dispensary, 130 Gold street ; the Hillsiue Homceopathic
Dispensary, 478 Bergen street ; the Helping Hand Dispensary, 266 Jay street ; the Polyclinic Dis-
pensary, on Myrtle avenue, near Central avenue ; and St. Mary's Maternity, 155 Dean street.
physicians and surgeons.
Dr. Alexander J. C. Skene, president of the Long Island College Hospital, not only has taken a high
position in the ranks of his profession, but is conceded to be one of the ablest gynecologists in the United
States. Nor is he distinguished by these considerations alone, for he shines as a lover of the fine arts ; not
altogether an admirer of the moment, but an ardent and penetrating student, and one who endeavors to put
into practice the suggestions received from his readings. In addition he has been, in war and in peace, a
defender of the Union and a lover of the free institutions of the country, a thoroughly upright citizen, a
674 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Brooklynite in sympathies, and a courteous man at all times. A race of warriors, statesmen and professional
men, closely identified with a great part of the history of Scotland, is the family to which he claims kinship,
and which he honors in no less degree than any of the eminent ones who have gone before him. The
genesis of the history of the Skenes is told in a story to the effect that when Malcolm II., king of Scotland,
was returning from the defeat of the Danes, at Mortloch in Moray, in loio, he was pursued by a ravenous
wolf, which was about to attack him, when a young son of Donald of the Isles thrust his arm, which was
wound in the plaid, into the wolf's mouth and with his dagger slew the beast. The king, appreciating the
boldness of the action, gave to the young man certain lands which now form the parish of Skene in Aber-
deenshire. This incident gave rise to the family name Skene, meaning a dagger or dirk ; and a dirk
occupied, together with three wolves' heads, a very conspicuous place in the family's armorial bearings.
Colonel Philip Skene, of the British army, one of the doctor's ancestors, was a leading participator on the
royalist side in the military movements in northern New York during the revolutionary war. Before the
war he engaged with Lord Howe, in 1756, in the attack on Ticonderoga, and afterwards with Lord Amherst
at its capture, and that of Crown Point. To strengthen the British hold on Canada, Colonel Skene received
a large grant of land on Lake Champlain, and founded on Wood Creek the town of Skenesborough, now
Whitehall, N. Y. He developed the commerce and industries of the country about him, and became
governor of Crown Point, colonel in the local militia, judge and postmaster. His loyalty to the British
during the revolution swept away the benefits of all these services. The British burned Skenesborough
when they evacuated it, and after the war the Americans attainted him and his son, Major Andrew Skene,
of treason and confiscated their estates. In the parish of Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, in the year 1838, Dr. Skene
was born. His childhood and youth were spent there, and at the age of nineteen he embarked for this
country. He had become possessed of a strong desire to study medicine, and was also intensely fond of
zoological studies. Immediately on his arrival in this country he entered the University of Michigan, and
from there he proceeded to the Long Island College Hospital, from which institution he was graduated in
the year 1863. He took his diploma when the Civil war was in its hottest period, and the moment he saw
an opportunity for his usefulness he proffered the government his services and went to the front. He
rendered signal service, and in the midst of his exciting duties found time to evolve a plan which is adopted
to-day in the army corps and among the state militia, namely, an ambulance corps. On joining the army he
was delegated assistant surgeon at Port Royal and Charleston Harbor, S. C, and afterward at Decamp's
hospital, David's Island. Before he went to the front he had been appointed an assistant to Dr. Austin
Flint, professor of the institutes and practice of medicine. When the war was over he returned to his
alma mater, having received the appomtment of adjunct professor at the Long Island Hospital Medical
College, with which he has been connected ever since. During his service at the hospital he has been
brought into consultation on a thousand critical cases. Diagnosing has always been his forte, though it
must be said in addition that few men are able to control instruments with the same deft hand. He is
a frequent contributor to the medical journals on the subjects in which he is recognized as an authority.
He is the author of what is generally conceded to be the best work ever written on the diseases of women.
It was published by Appleton in 1883, and contains the results of twenty years of experience. The book
has had a vast circulation, and was lauded by the medical authorities of Europe as liberally as it was
here. In addition to his presidency of the Long Island Medical College, he also occupies the chair of
gynecology. He has been professor of gynecology in the New York Post-graduate Medical School, presi-
dent of the American Gynecological Society of the Kings County Medical Society and the New York
Obstetrical Society, and is corresponding member of the British, Boston and Detroit gynecological societies,
and other societies of France, Germany and Belgium. Aside from his profession he is an amateur sculptor
and practices this art in his leisure hours. Dr. Skene was lieutenant-colonel and surgeon on the Second
Division staff of the National Guard during the period of General E. L. Molineux's command.
Lewis Stephen Pilcher, M.D., surgeon, was born in Adrian, Mich., in 1845. His father, the Rev.
Elijah H. Pilcher, was one of the pioneers of the territory of Michigan, having gone there as a minister of
the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1829, from Ohio, in which state his father before him, Stephen Pilcher,
had likewise been a pioneer, having removed from Virginia in 1807. The family came originally from Kent^
England. Dr. Pilcher was graduated at the University of Michigan in 1862 ; having taken a post-graduate
course for a year, he received the degree of Master of Arts from the same institution in 1863. He^immedi-
ately took up the study of medicine, but after a few months he enlisted in the United States army as
hospital steward, in which capacity he served in the department of Missouri until August, 1865. Returning
to the University of Michigan he renewed his attendance upon medical lectures, and received there his
degree in March, 1866. After a number of months of country practice, in the neighborhood of Flint, Mich.,
he repaired to New York city, and spent the winter in special studies and hospital attendance. In April|
1867, he was accepted by the naval examining board and commissioned assistant surgeon in the United
States navy. He served five years, chiefly in Brooklyn and the West Indies, and was promoted to the grade
676
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
of passed assistant sura;eon. Then he resigned and established himself in private practice in Brooklyn in
Januarv, 1872. In the autumn of 1872 he was appointed lecturer on anatomy in the Long Island College
Hospital, adjunct surgeon in 1873, and assistant professor of anatomy in 1879, positions which he resigned
in 1882. In 1881 he was selected as one of the incorporators of the Methodist Episcopal Hospital in Brook-
lyn, and gave much time and study to the development of that institution during the succeeding years;
became the secretary of the board of managers in 1888 ; was appointed one of the visiting surgeons when the
hospital was opened in 1887, and the president of its medical board. He served as visiting physician to the
Brooklyn Orphan Asylum from 1876 to 1882, since which year he has been retained as consulting physician.
He is consulting surgeon to the Bushwick and East Brooklyn Dispensary, the Methodist Home for the Aged,
the Brooklyn Home for Inebriates and the Guild of St. Giles the Cripple. In 1885 he was elected professor
of clinical surgery in the Post-graduate Medical School and Hospital of New York, a position which he
retains. In 1881 he was elected a member of the New York Surgical Society. He is a member of the
Medical Society of the County of Kings, and of the Medical Society of the State of New York, of which
he was vice-president in 1890, and president in 1892. In 1889 he relinquished the general practice of
medicine and devoted himself entirely to surgery. With a number of his professional colleagues he
formed, in 1878, the Brooklyn Anatomical and Surgical Society, whose chief purpose was to secure for its
members opportunities for practical anatomical study, and for rehearsing surgical operations. In connection
with their work was begun the publication of a monthly journal. The Annals of the Anatomical and Surgical
Society. The society was disbanded in 1881, but the publication of the journal was continued by Drs.
Pilcher and George R. Fowler as the Annals of Anatomy and Siirgeiy for three years longer, when it was
suspended. After an interval of a year, at the solicitation of many of the subscribers to the former periodi-
cal, Dr. Pilcher undertook the editorship of a journal to be devoted exclusively to surgery, and named The
Annals of Surgery. This journal was successful from the outset, and he remains at its editorial helm. He
has made many contributions to current surgical literature, and has delivered a number of public addresses.
Dr. Pilcher's most important contributions are as follows: "The Treatment of Wounds; its Principles and
Practice, General and Special" [1883] ; "Tracheotomy" — article in Woods' Reference Handbook of Medi-
cal Science [1889]; "Naevus" — article in Keeting's Cyclopedia of the "Diseases of Children" [1889];
"The American System of Surgery" [1892] ; "Chapters on Wounds, Surgical Diseases of Microbic Origin,
Diseases of the Lymphatics and Surgical Diseases of the Female Generative Organs ;" " The Surgical
Reports of the Methodist Episcopal Hospital in Brooklyn," annually since 1888. In 1870 he married
Martha S. Phillips, daughter of Aaron H. Phillips, of Brooklyn. The residence of the family is in Gates
avenue, Brooklyn, except during the summer, when they remove to their summer home at Lake Hopat-
cong, N. J.
George Ryerson Fowler, M.D.,was born in the city of New York on December 25, 1848. His father,
Thomas W. Fowler, and mother, Sarah Jane Carman, were both born on Long Island. His early life was
spent in Jamaica, L, I., to which place his father had removed. His medical education was received at Belle-
vue Hospital Medical College, from which institution he was graduated, with the de.gree of Doctor in Medi-
cine, in February, 1871. He entered at once upon his professional duties in the eighteenth ward, subse
quently locating in the twenty-first ward. In 1872 he was appointed upon the staff of the Central Dispen-
sary, a position that he held two years, when he resigned. In 1878 he was commissioned as one of the
surgeons of the 14th Regiment, N. G., S. N. Y. In the same year the Brooklyn Anatomical and Surgical
Society was organized. Dr. Fowler being one of the founders. Two years afterwards he was elected its
president. He was associate editor of the Annals of the Anatomical and Surgical Society. Upon the organi-
zation of the Bushwick and East Brooklyn Dispensary in 1878 he was nominated its first visiting surgeon;
upon the complete organization of its medical staff, he was chosen by the latter body as its presiding officer.
In 1887 he resigned from the active staff and was made consulting surgeon. He was appointed in [883
surgeon-in-chief to the department of fractures and dislocations, St. Mary's Hospital, Brooklyn; he now has
entire charge of the general surgery of this hospital. He has been surgeon to the Methodist Episcopal
Hospital since its opening in 1887. He was elected president of the Medical Society of the County of Kings
for the year 1886, but positively declined a reelection for the reason that such a course deprived others of
the honors and prestige which this position afforded. This example has been invariably followed by those
suice elected to that office. In 1891 he was elected a fellow of the American Surgical Association. He is
also a permanent member of the American Medical Association. In January, 1892, he was elected a mem-
ber of the New York Surgical Society. He is also a member of the New York Academy of Medicine ;
the Brooklyn Surgical Society, of which in 1891 he was president ; and the Society of Medical Jurisprudence.
In 1889 he was elected a permanent member of the Medical Society of the State of New York. When a
law was enacted in 1890 separatmg the educating and licensing power in the state, the State Medical Society
submitted the name of Dr. Fowler to the board of regents of the University of the State of New York at
Albany, and he was appointed one of the seven members of the examining board representing the state
678 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
society. At the first meeting of tlie board of examiners he was appointed examiner in surgery. He is con-
sulting surgeon to the Relief (E. D.) Hospital and to the Norwegian Hospital. During a trip to Europe in
18S4 he was present at a meeting for the distribution of ambulance certificates at a watering place on the
Lancashire coast. He there formed the resolution to establish classes for instruction in first aid to the injured
on his return to America. Arriving home he set about agitating the question of forming such classes. His
connection with the national guard suggested placing the matter on a sound footing in that organization,
and at the state camp at Peekskill in the following year he established classes for instructing the men in
caring for injured persons in emergencies. This was followed by an order, at his instance, from Gen. James
McLeer, establishing the instruction in the armories as a part of the soldiers' duties during the winter season.
In the year following the surgeon-general of tlie state ordered similar instruction to be imparted to all of
the national guard organizations in New York, and in a year thereafter an order was issued from the adju-
tant-general's office at Washington, ordering similar instruction to be given at all military posts of the LTnited
States. In the early part of 1890 the Red Cross Society, of Brooklyn, was organized, and Dr. Fowler was
elected president. A part of the work of this society consisted in delivering a series of short and practical
lectures to members of the police force, having obtained the permission of the head of the department. He
has made many important contributions to the literature of surgery, and has taken an active and prominent
part in the work of the societies of which he is a member. In 1873 he married Louise R. Wells, the youngest
daughter of the late James Wells, of Norristown, Pa.; of their four children, three are living. Dr. Fowler
retains his connection with military affairs, being surgeon on the staff of the Second Brigade, with the rank
of major. He is a member of the Church of the Messiah. Among Dr. Fowler's many contributions to
current surgical literature the most important are the articles on e.xtirpation of superior maxillary nerve
and Meckel's ganglion for facial neuralgia; antiseptic excision of knee-joints ; surgical treatment of facial
neuralgia; fractures of the elbow-joint ; the wire suture in fracture of the patella ; excision of the rectum
for carcinoma; the listerian treatment of wounds; antiseptic incision in abscess of liver; hcemarthrosis of
knee; lumbar colotomy ; neurectomy for the relief of facial neuralgia; the importance of the early removal
of caseous lymphatic glands ; dry wound dressing ; compound comminuted fracture of patella ; explorative
laparotomy; Alexander's operation for shortening the round ligaments ; surgical infection ; laparotomy for
extra-uterine pregnancy ; gunshot wound of the brain ; operative treatment of acute intestinal obstruction ;
transplantation of skin ; resection of knee-joint in children ; drainage of the bladder; gunshot wound of the
head; location of bullet by means of the telephone probe; hallux valgus; laryngectomy; radical cure of
hernia ; nephectomy ; sterilization of cazgus.
John G. Johnson, M. D., is a native of Massachusetts ; his paternal and maternal ancestry was repre-
sented during the revolutionary days by officers who held commissions in the continental armies. His father
was Dr. Samuel Johnson, a prominent surgeon of Essex County, Mass. Dr. John G, Johnson was born at And-
over on October 10, 1833 ; he was graduated from Harvard University and studied medicine under Profes-
sor James R. Wood, M. D., and also at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, from Avhich
institution he received his diploma. For eighteen months after completing his studies he was one of the
resident surgeons at the Bellevue Hospital ; he began practice in Brooklyn in 1857. The same year he
received an appointment on the surgical staff of the Long Island College Hospital, and when the institution
was removed to its present location, he performed the first operation within the walls of the new building.
An association with Dr. George Marvin led him to give up hospital work and apply him.self to private prac-
tice. He has been and is associated in a professional capacity with a number of large corporations, and was
surgeon to the East River Bridge Company during the time that the great span was in process of construc-
tion ; the facts he collected relative to the memorable panic which resulted in the loss of life on the New
York side proved that the occurrence was unavoidable, and he was instrumental in inducing the court of
appeals to dismiss the suits for damages brought against the cities of New York and Brooklyn. As an expert
in legal cases demanding the aid of medical jurisprudence he has had large experience. He has performed
many original surgical operations; he was the pioneer in this country in the exsection of the ankle-joint, and
his success m this field was chronicled in the records of the State Medical Society, on the authority and at
the request of the Kings County Medical Society. He successfully removed a minie ball, weighing an ounce
and a quarter, which had lodged for six weeks in the brain of Lieutenant Thomas W. Chandler, who recovered
and died from natural causes a quarter of a century later. He was in charge of the Brick Church and White
Church Hospitals at Sharpsburg during the battle of Antietam. For several years he was associate editor
of the New York Medical Journal, and contributed to every issue some twenty pages of interesting medical
and surgical literature. His paper on vaccination, read before the Medico-Legal Society of New York,
resulted in putting a stop to the use of the humanized vaccine ; he succeeded, with the assistance of the
E.AGi.E, in preventing the canning factories of Baltimore from utilizing chloride of zinc instead of rosin as
a flu.x in sealing their goods for market. His studies in bacteriology have resulted in widely read papers on
the dangers of contracting consumption from rare meat and from the milk of cows affected with tuberculosis:
■i-^'T'w:^^>fi^ ^D
68o
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
he investigated tlie diphtlieritic sjerm, and was the first to advocate the employment of pineapple juice and
the use of a weak solution of cotrosive sublimate in fighting the disease ; it was also due to him that the
slaking of quicklime was adopted as a measure of destroying membraneous tissue characterizing diphtheritic
croup He has demonstrated that scarlet fever is caused by a disease germ, which increases rapidly in the
blood passes to the smaller capillary vessels of the skin, and there multiplies. By bathing the afflicted per-
' son with a mercuric chloride solution the germs are
destroyed and recoveries from the disease are rapid.
Dr. Johnson is a member of the New York Academy
of Medicine, the New York Neurological Society, the
New York State Medical Association, the Kings County
Medical Society, the Pathological Society and Hamilton
and Brooklyn clubs.
It is only within forty years that preventive medi-
cine has found practical application to the problems
of public health, and with this sanitary reform move-
ment no name has been more prominently identified
from its inception than that of Dr. Agrippa Nelson
Bkll. He is a type and representative of that body
of young enthusiasts who, about the middle of the
century, entered upon the task of organizing sanitary
administration. Dr. Bell was born in Northamp-
ton County, Virginia, on August 3, 1820. He is de-
scended in both parental lines from the earliest Vir-
ginia colonists. His early life was passed on a farm,
where he developed an excellent physique. It was
not until he was eighteen years of age that he began
a systematic course of study. He attended an aca-
demic school at Newtown, Conn., and so rapid was his
progress that he was able two years later to enter the
Tremont Medical School in Boston, where Drs. Jacob
Bigelow, Edward Reynolds, D. Humphrey Storer and
O. W. Holmes were his preceptors. After attending
medical lectures at Harvard he went to Philadelphia,
and in 1842 received his degree from the Jefferson Medical College. He established himself in his native
county and soon acquired a large practice. In November of that year he married Julia Ann, daughter
of Arcillus and Jerusha Hamlin. Subsequently he practiced three years in Waterbury, Conn. The public,
importance of his career, however, may be said to date from 1847, when he received a commission in the
navy and was at once ordered to the sloop of war " Saratoga." From that time until the end of the
Mexican war he served in the Gulf squadron. He was next assigned to the coast survey in and about
New York. In 1849 he went on a cruise to the West Indies and along the Spanish Main. His next
and last cruise was on board the flagship " Germantown," for two years off the west coast of Africa.
Then, after serving two years more on board the receiving ship, at the Brooklyn navy yard, and mean-
while gaining his promotion to surgeon, he resigned his commission in 1855, and began his practice in
this city. The familiarity he had gained with yellow fever in the Gulf and on the coast of Africa enabled
him to render valuable aid during the prevalence of that disease on Bay Ridge and at Fort Hamilton,
in 1856. He helped to organize the local hospital which did so much to check the spread of the malady
to Brooklyn. Though convinced by experience that yellow fever was not contagious, he entered at
once upon a vigorous campaign for quarantine reform. He denounced the system of merely detaining
infected vessels and maintaining a quarantine establishment in proximity with a populous neighborhood, as
inconceivable barbarism ; and finally the citizens became so aroused that on September ist, 1858, an
excited throng destroyed the New York quarantine structures on Staten Island by fire. Not one of those
engaged in the removal of the patients sick with yellow fever took the disease. His communications to the
national quarantine and sanitary convention at Boston, i860, constituted the basis of all subsequent
quarantine reform. A bill embodying most of his ideas applicable to ports of arrival became the law of
New York in 1863. It contained, however, some sections against which he protested in vain. Attempts to
erect quarantine buildings on Staten Island and then on Coney Island were frustrated ; and West Bank,
the site which Dr. Bell had advocated from the first, was adopted, but he was for the time ignored. One
provision of this law designated steam as a disinfectant, the efiiciency of which he had himself discovered
in 1848. During the first year of the Civil war he was superintendent of the floating hospital for yellow
John G. Johnson, M. D.
fever patients in the lower bay, and again demonstrated the non-contagiousness of this disease by the person.
From 1870 until 1S73 he was supervising commissioner of quarantine of the state of New York. When
the National Board of Health was organized he was made an inspector of quarantine and rendered invalu-
able service along the southern seaboard. He has written a great number of articles on sanitary matters,
soil drainage, school hygiene, methods of heating, etc. The proceedings of many societies of which he is a
member contain papers from his pen. He is author of " Knowledge of Living Things " [i860], which
contains the germ of the germ theory of disease. He is also the author of "Climatology and Mineral
Waters in the United States" [1S85]. In 1873 he founded The Sanitarian, a monthly magazine devoted to
the interests of the public health. He is a member of the New York State Medical Society, New York
State Medical Association, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, American
Climatological Association, Kings County Medical Society, Kings County Medical Association, New York
Medico-Legal Society, honorary member Connecticut State Medical Society, corresponding member
Epidemiological Society, London, etc.
John Byrne, M. D., was born in Ireland, on October 13, 1825. His father, Stephen Byrne, who was a
well-known merchant, sent him to the diocesan seminary at Belfast, at which institution and subsequently
from private tutors, he received a thorough classical education. At the age of si.Kteen he matriculated at
the Royal Belfast Institution and entered the General Hospital as a medical student. During the succeed-
ing five years his medical education was pursued in the universities of Dublin, Clasgow and Edinburgh,
from the latter of which he graduated in i8-f6. His course of study all through was based on the curricu-
lum of the British navy, for which service he was intended and which at that period demanded a longer
probation and extra branches not required by the colleges. During the Irish famine in 1847 he was
appointed to full charge of one of the temporary fever hospitals, which he C(}nducted with marked success
until its close. He came to the United States in 1848, and though soon after leaving his native land his
appointment to the British navy was received he decided to remain here and settled in Brooklyn, where he has
since practiced his profession. In 1857-8, in conjunction with the late Dr. Daniel Ayres, Dr. Louis Bauer,
now of St. Louis, and a few generous lay friends, he obtained a charter for the Long Island College Hospital,
which he helped to organize. About this period, owing to improved methods of investigation regarding the
diseases of women, he decided to devote his best energies to the study and practice of this specialty and one
6S2
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
John Byrne, M. D.
of his earliest contributions to gynecological litera-
ture, read before the New York Academy of Medicine
in i860, was reprinted in various medical journals both
here and in Europe. Since then his original papers
and clinical reports on subjects connected with his
specialty have been numerous and of acknowledged
merit. In 1868 he was appointed surgeon-in-chief to
St. Mary's Hospital for Women, a position which he
still occupies. In 1882, on the completion of the first
wing of St. Mary's Hospital on St Mark's avenue, he
was entrusted with the duty of (organizing its medical
and surgical staff. In 1869 he undertook an exhaust-
ive series of experiments in electro-physics with the
hope of being able to devise or construct a more per-
fect apparatus than it was then possible to procure
for the generation of heat by the galvanic current,
and in 1876 he forwarded to the centennial exhibition
at Philadelphia his well-known electro-thermal battery
for surgical operations. The remarkable power of this
little apparatus was then demonstrated before a select
assemblage of scientists, including the late Emperor
Dom Pedro, Sir William Thompson and others, all of
whom were lavish in their expressions of approval.
Through its agency and by ingeniously devised instru-
ments he is said to have operated more frequently and
with greater success in a class of diseases otherwise
incurable than any other living surgeon. His remarkable statistics of nearly 400 operations for cancer, pub-
lished ni 18S9, are now of world-wide note. He is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, a mem-
ber of the American Medical Association, surgeon-in-chief to St. Mary's Maternity, chief of gynecological
department and president of the faculty of St. Mary's Hospital, president of the American Gynecological
Society, ex-president of the New York Obstetrical Society; corresponding member of the Gynecological
Society of Boston, ex-president of the Brooklyn Gynecological Society and member of the State and Kings
County Medical societies.
John T. Conkling, M. D., was born in Suffolk
County, L.I. , in 1825, but much of his early life was spent
in the west. He graduated in medicine at the College
of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1855, and
for thirty-seven years has been a busy practitioner on
Brooklyn Heights. When the metropolitan health
board, including the counties of New York, Kings and
Queens, was organized in 1864, he was selected as the
Brooklyn superintendent, and by untiring vigilance suc-
ceeded in enforcing the new sanitary regulations now
recognized as the basis of the good health of the city.
His success in establishing the first ambulance service,
his labors during the cholera epidemic of 1866 and his
exertions in making the first contracts for the removal
of garbage separate from other refuse, are a part of
the city's history. When in 1873 the health depart-
ment was reorganized, he was chosen one of the medi-
cal members of the board, because of his experience
and previous record. In 1874 he was again appointed
a member and president of the health board. From
1864 to 1870 he was a member of the board of educa-
tion, and was instrumental in establishing the first
graded course of study in the i)ublic schools. He is a
member of the Kings County Medical Society, and was
at one time its president. He is a member of the coun- ,..:...,..■
cil of the Long Island College Hospital and of the John t. conkling, M. D.
JOHN F. TALMAGE, M. 1).
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
6S3
Hamilton Club. His only son is Dr. Henry Conkling, who was graduated at tlie Long Island College Hos-
pital and studied in London, England. After his return he associated himself with his father in the practice
of medicine, and is now assistant physician and pathologist to St. Peter's Hospital.
One of the oldest and most widely known practitioners in Brooklyn is Isaac H. B.4rber, M.D., attend-
ing surgeon at the Kings County Hospital, and for the past twenty-five years connected with the Brooklyn
Central Dispensary in almost every capacity from president down. He is one of the board of trustees of
that institution. He was born in Florida, Montgomery County, N. Y., in 1829, and received an academic
education in the academy of Amsterdam, N. Y. In 1851 he was graduated from the New York College of
Physicians and Surgeons. He was appointed surgeon to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, in which
capacity he served for a term of years, passing through the noted epidemics of cholera and yellow fever,
which were raging on the Pacific coast during the
years 1853 and 1854. Retiring from the sea, he set-
tled in Brooklyn in 1856, becoming a resident of the
eleventh ward, where he still resides. He has practiced
in this city constantly for the past thirty-six years as
a general practitioner. He has served as surgeon to
the Kings County Hospital a number of years. His
membership in the Kings County Medical Society, the
Practitioners' Club and the Physicians' Mutual Aid
Association dates back for many years. He married in
1856 Miss J. M. Freemyre. His son, Calvin F. Barber,
is a physician, and is associated with him in practice.
John Frelinghuysen Talmage, A. M., M. D., was
born on March 11, 1833, at Mont Verd, near Somer-
ville, N. J. In 1849 he entered Rutgers College at
New Brunswick, passing over the freshman year and
taking his place in the second term of the sophomore
class. In 1852 he was graduated and for a term filled
the chair of Latin and Greek in Orville University.
About this time he decided to adopt the medical pro-
fession and after studying a short time at Huntsville,
Ala., he came north and attended a course of lectures
in the medical department of the University of the
City of New York. Deciding in favor of the then new
school of homoeopathy, he studied with Dr. A. Cooke
Hull, of Brooklyn, and in 1859 received a diploma
from the University Medical College. After passing
further time in Dr. Hull's office he became his pre-
ceptor's partner and remained in that relation twelve years
Brooklyn Orphan Asylum. For about a year he served in the department of diseases of women in the
Brooklyn Homoeopathic Dispensary. When Asiatic cholera visited this country in 1866 he issued a circular
of hints and suggestions. Though intended for private circulation only, it so admirably met the emergency
that the leading newspapers of Brooklyn, New York and other cities printed it in their columns with highly
favorable comment. His treatment of cholera cases at that time was extensive and successful to an extra-
ordinary degree. After the death of Dr. Hull, Dr. Talmage associated with him in practice his brother, Dr.
Samuel Talmage, who was also a graduate of the Medical College of the New York University. In 1863
Dr. Talmage married Miss Maggie Hunt, the youngest daughter of Thomas Hunt. He has served at vari-
ous times as surgeon of the nth Brigade, N. G., S. N. Y., visiting physician of the Brooklyn Homoeopathic
Hospital and consulting physician of the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Nursery. He is a member of the Brook-
lyn, Hamilton and Crescent Athletic clubs and the Zeta Psi Club, of New York.
William Gilfillan, M. D., has been engaged in the practice of medicine in Brooklyn since i860, and
has attained a high position in the profession by his knowledge and skill in both medicine and surgery. He
was born near the historical city of Derry, in the north of Ireland, and comes of very old families on both
sides. His father was assistant surgeon on the British ship " Dorothea " when that vessel and the " Trent "
made their famous Arctic voyage ; he died in his young manhood. William Gilfillan went to Edinburgh in
1850 at the age of seventeen and began to study medicine, prosecuting his studies under many advan-
tageous circumstances. He received his degree on August i, 1854, having previously taken first senior
prize in the practice of medicine and second prize in the practice of surgery. For a year he was house
physician in the Royal Infirmary, and at the end of that time he was selected to accompany the Marchioness
Isaac H, Barber, M. D.
For a year he acted as physician of the
684
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
William Gilfillan, M. D.
of lUite and her son, the present Marquis, on a tour
of the Continent, lasting several months, as physician
to the lad, who then was ten years old ; the boy was
a ward in chancery and under the English law it was
necessary for a physician to accompany him. After
his return he was made house surgeon in the Royal
Infirmary. Deciding to come to America he was en-
gaged in 1857 as surgeon on the Cunard line of steam-
ships, and in May, 1858, he settled in St. Louis, Mo.,
where he soon built up an extensive practice. In
November, 1859, he married Miss Carrie M. Ladd, of
Throgg's Neck, N. Y., and as the climate of St. Louis
did not agree with her he came to Brooklyn in Feb-
ruary, i860. Here he became surgeon to the Long
Island College Hospital and lectured on materia medica,
meanwhile establishing a good practice. In 1869, after
three years' service at the hospital, he resigned, owing
to the opposition of the council of the hospital to what
they regarded as innovations. From that time he de-
voted himself to private practice, but he holds the hon-
orary position of consulting surgeon to St. John's Hos-
pital. He is a member of the Kings County Medical
Society and the New York Academy of Medicine.
J(jHN Li.ovn Zabriskie, M. D., has all his life been
identified with the interests of Flatbush. Born there
in 1831, of American parentage, of Dutch extraction,
he received his education preparatory for college at the famous old Erasmus Hall Academy, of Flatbush,
subsequently matriculating at the New York University, where he was graduated in 1850. In the autumn
of the same year he entered the Medical College of the University, from which he was graduated in 1853.
After serving one year as interne in the Kings County Hospital he began the practice of medicine in 1855
and has since been one of its most respected general practitioners. He acted as health physician in Flat-
bush from 1880 to 1890. He has long been a member of the local board of improvement. In this capacity
he has actively assisted in securing better paved and
lighted streets and great advancement in the sanitary
condition of the town. He has been prominently iden-
tified as well with the educational interests of Flatbush,
having long been a trustee of Erasmus Hall Academy
and a member of the local school board. He is a mem-
ber of the Kings County Medical Society, and is con-
sulting physician of the Kings County Hospital and
the Long Island College Hospital. He has contributed
frequently to the various journals of medical literature
and his position as an able writer has long been assured.
He married Eliza l!.Carvin,of Flatbush, in 1861. His
handsome residence in Flatbush is adjacent to the Re-
formed Church, of which he is a trustee and an active
member. He is the secontl oldest physician in the
town of Flatbush, his senior being Dr. Ingraham, who
was at one time a student in the ofiice of Dr. Zab-
riskie's father. Dr. John Zabriskie, who settled in Flat-
bush in the year 1S30.
One of the most respected homoeopathic physicians
of Brooklyn is Dr. A\'im.i.a.m S. Se.\rle, an earnest and
efficient worker in the cause of medical reform, who
has been instrumental in securing legislation in New
York of such evident value tliat other states have imi-
tated it; and who continues to add to the arduous
duties of a large general practice the burden of further
labor in this direction. In 1868 he submitted to the John lloyd Zabkiskie, m. d,
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
68s
state legislature a bill establishing a state board of examiners in medicine, and in an annual address
before the state society he presented arguments in favor of the proposed legislation. His efforts and those
of his sympathizers resulted in the law of 1872, under which was appointed the first state medical examin-
ing board in America. That this reform was desirable needs no stronger evidence than the subsequent
legislation of twenty-five other states, which have followed the example of New York in taking the licens-
ing power from the medical colleges and placing it in the hands of state boards. Dr. Searle is a strong
advocate of still wider reforms along the same line. He desires the estabhshnieiit of a national board,
which shall have power to grant the honorary degree of " State Physician and Surgeon." His plan is to
make this degree attainable only by candidates who have received the degrees of Pjachelor of Arts and
Doctor of Medicine and a license to practice issued by some state board. In order to obtain this new
degree candidates would be required to pass a rigid
and practical examination from which, of the various
branches of medical science, therapeutics alone would
be excluded, this exclusion being made in order that
"state physicians" might be exempt from those dis-
tinctions of sect or school which have proved so serious
hindrance to medical progress. In addition to this great
work of reform Dr. Searle has busied himself with litera-
ture, and has long been a welcome contributor to both
the general and medical fields of the world of letters.
Among his writings is a valuable work on nervous dis-
eases. He has continuously been one of the medical
examiners of New York state under the law of 1872,
and for ten years he was chairman of the board ; he
still holds his position as an examiner under the law
of 1891. He was one of the founders of the Brooklyn
Homoeopathic Hosijital, and has been a member of the
hospital staff from the time of the opening of the in-
stitution in 1874. His residence in ISrooklyn dates
from 1869. For ten years previous to that he prac-
ticed in Troy, N. Y. He was born in Bradford, Mass.,
in 1833, and is the son of the Rev. Moses C. Searle, a
distinguished Presbyterian clergyman. After suitable
preparatory study he entered Hamilton College, where
he was graduated with honors in the class of 1855.
His medical studies were begun at the University of
New York, but he took his degree of Doctor of Medi-
cine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1859.
Homer L. Bartlett, M. D., of Flatbush, is the son of Ellas Bartlett, one of whose paternal ancestors. Dr.
Josiah Bartlett was heroically conspicuous during the stormy scenes of 1776-S3, and his mother was Eliza,
daughter of El'eazar Wheelock, one of the first who preached the Gospel to the North American Indians.
Homer L Bartlett was born at Jericho, Vt., and after acquiring a fair classical education he began to study
medicine in the office of his father's family physician, Dr. J. Hamilton, of Jericho; and when that practitioner
moved to Albany his pupil accompanied him, continued his studies and improved his advantages by attend-
ing a lecture course at the Albany Medical College, having previously attended lectures at the College of
Woodstock Vt At the end of a year he came to New York for the purpose of continuing his studies in the
office of the late Professor Willard Parker. He also attended a course of lectures at the New York
College of Physicians and Surgeons, during the winter of 1854-5S, from which institution he received his
diploma in the latter year. At the time of his graduation the Kings County Hospital was under the direc-
tion of Dr Thomas Turner, and Dr. Bartlett was appointed to a position under him as assistant physician
His service at the institution was marked by an association with Dr. D. B. Simmons, afterwards medical
missionary to Japan, in conjunction with whom Dr. Bartlett arranged a complete anatomical cabinet^
When his duties at the hospital had drawn to a close he narrowly escaped death from a severe a tack of
erysipelas, which obliged him to spend the summer at his old home for the purpose of recruiting his
shattered health. Toward the close of x8s6 he returned to New York, and, acting upon the suggestion of
Dr. Parker, commenced practice in an office on Eighty-sixth street. He remained there exactly one week
when an urgent demand was made for his services at New Utrecht, where Drs. Crane and Dubois had di d
while fighting the yellow fever scourge. Without a moment's delay he accepted the call, viewing , a an
imperatfve d!ty whfch he was not at liberty to decline. In New Utrecht he remained, manfully combating
William S. Searle, M. D.
Homer L. Bartlett, M. D.
disease and alleviating suffering, until the subsidence of the
fever. In the spring of 1857 he was urged to remove to Flat-
bush, where he has since resided. He was at once appointed
consulting physician to the Kings County Hospital, a post which
he still occupies. He has conferred many benefits upon the
town of which he is a resident; he was instrumental in organ-
izing the first health board, and was health officer twelve years.
He was also one of the originators and the first president of the
police board. He is physician to the Kings County Peniten-
tiary, a member of the Kings County Medical Society, a per-
manent member of the American Medical Association, from
which he was a delegate to the medical congress held in London
in August, 1881; and he is a member of the Physicians' Mutual
Aid Association. As a Mason Dr. Bartlett has become noted,
RESIDENCE OF DR. BARTLETT, Flateush. ^^^-^^ j^^^,^ ^^^^^^^ ^f j^jg ^^^,„ lo^gg ^5,^66 tcrms and a facile
and brilliant writer of masonic literature. His contributions to the press have been frequent and, besides
his professional essays, he has delved into legends and historical records, and produced an attractive volume
under the title of "Sketches of Long Island." In 1859 he married Margaret Strong Scott, daughter of
Henry Scott, of Cooperstown, N. Y.; she died in 1876, leaving four children. In 1888 he married Harriette
Forde Moore, daughter of William Moore, of Belfast, Ireland. Dr. Bartlett was one of the founders and
the first president of the Midwood Club.
Jarvis Sherman Wight, M. D., is a descendant of Thomas Wight, an emigrant from the Isle of Wight,
1635, and was born at Centerville, Allegany County, N, Y., in 1834. After graduation from Tufts College,
Mass., in 1861, he attended medical lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, and at
the Long Island College Hospital, where he received his degree in 1864. He served a year as assistant
surgeon in the volunteer army, and at the close of 1865 settled in Brooklyn, where in the Long Island Col-
lege Hospital he has been surgeon to the dispensary, adjunct surgeon to the hospital, surgeon to the hos-
pital, lecturer on diseases of the skin, professor of materia medica and therapeutics, professor of principles
and practice of surgery, and professor of operative and clinical surgery, a position which he now holds; he
was for many years registrar of the college. He is consulting surgeon at St. Mary's Hospital, and at the
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
687
jARVis S. Wight, M. D.
Eastern District Hospital and a member of the Kings
County Medical Society, Brooklyn Surgical Society,
New York State Medical Society, American Medical
Association, American Academy of Medicine, Ameri-
can Surgical Association, British Medical Association
and the Society of Medical Jurisprudence, New York.
He has performed many major operations, has invented
various instruments and has written articles of both a
professional and a literary character; he is the author
of "The Weight and Size of the Body and its Or-
gans;" " Myodynamics, or the Dynamics of the Mus-
cles;" "A Memorial of Frank Hastings Hamilton, M.
D.;" "A Biographical Memorial of O.W.Wight, M.
D.;" and "Suggestions to the Medical Witness." He
stands high as a medical witness, and is respected by
judges, lawyers and juries. On January 9, 1871, he
married Mary, daughter of Joseph Center.
Alf.x.ander Hutchins, a. M., M. D., was born in
New York city on January 24, 1835. He was gradu-
ated at Williams College in 1857 with the highest
honor of his class — that of valedictorian. Entering
the New York Medical College he was graduated in
i860, and was immediately appointed surgeon on the
steamer "Star of the West" of the New York, New
Orleans and Havana steamship line. This position he
soon resigned to accept an appointment as house sur-
geon in the public hospital on Blackwell's Island, where he remained until 1861, when he received a com-
mission as surgeon in the United States navy. He served at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital and on the
United States steamers "Wyandotte," "Harriet Lane" and "Massachusetts." In 1863 he resigned from
the navy and began to practice privately in Brooklyn. From 1876 to 1879 he was president of the Medical
Society of Kings County ; he is a life member of the Medical Society of the State of New York, of which
he was president during the year 1882. He is consulting physician of St. John's, St. Mary's and the Long
Island College Hospitals, and regular physician at the
Brooklyn Hospital ; he was instrumental in founding
Proceedings, the official journal of the Medical Society
of Kings County, and in establishing the society's read-
ing room and library. He is the author of several
monographs and essays. The educational institutions
of the city interest him and he was an organizer and
is a trustee of Froebel Academy. He is a trustee and
the secretary of the East Brooklyn Savings Bank, and
is a prominent member of the Hamilton Club. Since
1863 he has been connected with St. Matthew's Protest-
ant Episcopal Church. For twenty-five years he was
superintendent of the Sunday-school and for several
terms was manager of the Brooklyn Sunday-school
Union.
Harrison Willis, M.D., for fifteen years has been
one of the censors of the Kings County Homoeopathic
Society, and two years its president. He is a de-
scendant of that branch of the Willis family of which
Nathaniel P. Willis, the author, was a conspicuous mem-
ber, and traces his American ancestry back to 1640,
when his forefathers came to this country and joined
the Plymouth colony. Born in Rehoboth, Mass., in
1836, he went to school at the Seekonk Classical Acad-
emy, now in East Providence, R. I. He was gradu-
ated at the Cleveland, Ohio, Homoeopathic Medical Col-
lege in 1865, having previously attended lectures at
Harrison Willis, M. D.
688
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
the Pittsfield Medical College. He began to practice medicine in Clinton, N. Y., and came tp Brooklyn in
i86S. For two years he attended obstetrical lectures and clinics at the Bellevue Hospital and the College
of Physicians and Surgeons and began his surgical career with a series of clever operations that stamped
him as an original, independent, and. highly capable operator. As a lecturer on gynecology he shows a rare
faculty of engaging the attention and communicating instruction. He is the visiting surgeon of the Brooklyn
Homoeopathic Hospital and consulting surgeon of the Brooklyn Memorial Hospital, the Brooklyn Mater-
nity Hospital and the Brooklyn Nursery. His contributions to medical literature have been chiefly in the
columns of the North American Journal of Homceopathy and the transactions of the State Homoeopathic
Society. He is a member of the Lincoln Club. In 1866 he married Ellen White, of Pawtucket, R. L; she
died in Brooklyn in 1S72, and in 1874 he married Isabella M. Mirrielees. His two oldest sons are now
both practicing medicine, Harrison Willis, Jr., M. D., being at present resident surgeon at St. Martha's
Sanitarium.
Frederick WiLT.TA^r Wunderetch, M. 1)., who has been a successful practising physician in Brooklyn
since 1869, began his medical education in a very practical wa}- as an apprentice to the druggist's business
from which he went into the Union army as a hos-
pital steward in the early days of the war ; and he per-
fected it by thorough courses of regular study and a
long service in both the army and the navy. He was
born in Wittelde, Germany, in 1841. Until he was
fourteen years old he attended school in his native
land. Then he came to America and went to St. Louis,
where in a short time he became apprentice to a drug-
gist. He was appointed as a hospital steward in the
army when the war began, and served in a general
hospital at St. Louis until the fall of 1863. He took
up the regular study of medicine while at this post of
duty, and, after taking the course at the St. Louis
Medical College, was graduated in 1864. After his
graduation he passed e.xamination for appointment as
acting assistant surgeon in both the army and navy
and, receiving an appointment to the army, was as-
signed to duty in the general hospital at Leavenworth,
Kansas. Subsequently he was appointed as an acting
assistant surgeon in the navy, and resigned from the
army. On May 10, 1865, he was appointed assistant
surgeon, having passed an e.xamination for that grade
before a board of naval surgeons at the Naval Asylum
in Philadelphia. After various tours of duty he was
sent to the Brooklyn navy yard, and was attached to
the receiving ship "Vermont" from June 10, 1867,
until January 18, 1868. He was with Admiral Far-
ragut on the cruise from Lisbon to the coasts of Hol-
land and England, and then to Gibraltar and up the Mediterranean from AprH 29 until October 15,
1868 In 1869 he was promoted to the grade of passed assistant surgeon, and served at the Marine
Rendezvous at Washington, 1). C, during the summer of 1869, when he resigned to engage in private prac-
tice establishing himself in Brooklyn in November of that year. For some time he w^as connected with the
outdoor department of the Long Island College Hospital, and he was a member of the attending staff of St
Mary s Hospital several years. Since January, 1883, he has been an attending surgeon at St Pete
Fkkuerick W. Wunderlich, M. D.
tal. He is
Pathoh)!;!
iter's Hospi-
IS a member of tlie Medical Society of the County of Kings, Brooklyn Surgical Society, Brooklyn
r u , ^ , ""f >'' 'American Medical Association, New York Academy of Medicine, Ueutschen Medic-
Gesellschaft der Stadt New York, Brooklyn Germania Club, Brooklyn Institute, Brooklyn Art Association,
Long Island Historical Society and the Brooklyn Chess Club.
John Lester Keep, M. I)., was born March ,8, 1838, in New Haven, Conn., and received his pre-
hmin.u-y education at Lhelford Academy, Vt., and in Dr. Russell's Collegiate and Commercial Institute of
iTn M 7' ?r "n 7 '' '"'■""' """'■'" "' ''^' ^'''^' ^"-^''''''^ ^"ll^y^- he ''^^ gi-aduated at the Hahne-
Sle.r ?■?."'"''''''" "^ the class of x86o and at the New York Homoeopathic Medical
,^7 '""'!,"''''' "f "^^^- ^' '"^aan the practice of medicine in Brooklyn in the spring of i860 and in
Sa ahTo t A '"'" '^ ^"'''7' "' '"' ''■'' " ■'""" '•'"^'^•"' J---" "f ''- ""'-^ Ball line. He married, in 1865,
Sarah Coit Avery, and they have three children. In 1867 he established the Gates Avenue Homoeopathic
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
689
Dispensary, of which he is a trustee and medical
director. He is consulting physician at the Brooklyn
Homeopathic Dispensary and a member of the medi-
cal staff of the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Hospital. He
has been prominently identified with Brooklyn mili-
tary organizations, being a life member of the 13th
Regiment Veteran Association ; he was commissioned
surgeon of the 13th Regiment in 1868 and of the 5th
Brigade, N. G., S. N. Y., in 1S69. He was surgeon of
the Second Division in 1880, was brevetted colonel in
1883, and rendered supernumerary in 1884. His father,
Lester Keep, M. D., was an old Brooklyn practitioner
and his grandfather, John Keep, of South Lee, Mass.,
was a soldier in the revolution. Dr. Keep is a member
of the American Institute of Homixopathy, a life mem-
ber of the Long Island Historical and New England
societies and a member of Altair Lodge, 601, F. & A.
M., the Brooklyn, INIontauk and Crescent clubs and the
New York and Philadelphia Medical College alumni
associations ; he was vice-president of the New York
Medical College Alumni .Association in 1890. He has
been vice-president and necrologist of the Hahne-
mannian College Association and for two years was
secretary of the Kings County Homoeopathic Medical
Society. It has been his custom for many years to
spend the summer months at Shelter Island, at which J- Li^ster keep, m. d.
place he has a pleasant cottage and is regarded as one of the leading men in the summer colony.
William M. L. Fiske, M. D., is descended not only from one of the earliest and most honorable New
England families, tracing its pedigree to Symond Fiske, Lord of the Manor of Stradhaugh, parish of Lax-
field, county of Suffolk, England, who lived in the reigns of Kings Henry IV. and VI., but from a line of
able, and in some cases celebrated physicians extending through several generations. Phineas Fiske, who with
his sons, James, John and Thomas, settled at Wenham, Mass., was the pilgrim father of the family of Fiske
in America. The father of Dr. Fiske was Almond D.
Fiske, a manufacturer and inventor of note. Dr. Fiske
was born in New York on May 10, 184 1. At the age
of ten and after the death of his father the family
removed to Chazy, Clinton County, N. Y., and later he
attended the Bakersfield, Vt., and Champlain, N. Y.,
academies, where he prepared for college and the
study of medicine, and in 1859 became a student at
the New York Medical College. At the opening of
the Bellevue Medical College he was one of the first
to enter as a student there. Not long afterward, after
passing a competitive examination, he was appointed
one of the physicians at Blackwell's Island Charity
Hospital and served eight months. In 1862 he en-
listed in Co. A. of the 47th Regiment as a private
soldier. After a month's service in the ranks he was
appointed by General Morris to act as steward in the
convalescent hospital, at Fort McHenry, and a few
weeks later was promoted to be acting assistant post
surgeon, in charge of the post hospital, and served
in that capacity until the expiration of the regiment's
three months' service. Returning to Brooklyn he
again entered the Bellevue Medical College and was
graduated in 1863. Immediately after his graduation
he became a student of h(jnKcopathy with Dr. Albert
Wright, of Brooklyn, and was graduated from the New
William m. l. Fiske, m. d. York Homosopathic Medical College in 1864 After a
6go
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
few months in private practice he was appointed acting assistant surgeon in the United States Army, and
served until the close of the war. After the war he practiced two years in Aurora, 111., and five years in
Rochester, N. Y. At the solicitation of Dr. Wright he returned to Brooklyn to become a partner with him,
a relation which continued until the death of Dr. Wright in 1874. He associated himself with the chair of
surgery in the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Dispensary and upon the organization of the Cumberland street
hospital became one of its surgeons ; in 1882 he was unanimously elected medical director and president
of staff. He was one of the founders of the Brooklyn, E. D., Homoeopathic Dispensary and was its president
during a long period ; he is still consulting surgeon and trustee. He was one of the organizers and
lecturers of the Brooklyn Maternity and Training School for Nurses; and is consulting surgeon for the
Woman's Memorial Hospital, e.x-president of the Kings County Homoeopathic Society, president of the
New York State Homoeopathic Society [1892], senior member of the American Lrstitute of Homoeopathy
and member of the American Gynecological Society. He holds the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine
from the State Board of Regents. He was connected with the Smithsonian Institute, establishing the first
weather bureau in Florida, previous to the organization of the present weather bureau service.
Samuel Sherwell, M. D., who holds an honorable rank in the medical profession, came to America
from his native country, England, under peculiarly interesting auspices. He was a lad of seventeen when
the first Atlantic cable was laid in 1858 and through
the courtesy of a family friend. Captain Hudson of the
United States frigate "Niagara," he was the guest of
that officer on the memorable cable-laying trip, and
landed in New York in company with the late Cyrus
W. Field on August 9 of the year just mentioned. He
was born in 1841, near Plymouth, England, and is a
grand-nephew of the late Augustus Graham, founder of
the^ Brooklyn Institute, Brooklyn Hospital and other
local institutions. After coming to America, he began
in 1864 to study medicine, and was graduated at Belle-
vue Hospital in 1868, after which he served as resi-
dent surgeon at the Brooklyn Hospital until the sum-
mer of 1869. In the same summer he went to Europe,
where he remained nearly two years, spending the
greater portion of the time in study in Vienna. While
he was abroad the Franco-German war began, in the
fall of 1870, and he joined the Anglo-American ambu-
lance corps at Sedan early in September. With this
corps he served there and in the interior of France till
the end of the campaign. When the war ended he
received with his chiefs. Sir William McCormac and
Marion Sims, the decoration of the cross of the mili-
tary order of merit conferred by the Bavarian Govern-
ment. In the summer of 187 1 he returned to Brook-
lyn, and has been an active practitioner till the present
time. He was appointed lecturer on dermatology at
the Long Island College Hospital in 1877, and was made
chnical professor m 1SS6 ; he retains the latter position. Since 1874 he has been surgeon to the skin and
throat department of the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital,and he has been visiting physician of the Brook-
lyn Hospital since 1879. He is a member of most of the local medical societies, and he is a permanent
member of the State Medical Society and the Academy of Medicine in New York. In 1881 he was elected
president of the New York Dermatological Society; he was vice-president of the American Dermatological
Society from 1879 until 1889, and at the present time he is president of the Brooklyn Dermatological Society.
1 o the literature of his profession Dr. Sherwell has been a constant contributor. He has prepared valuable
papers for the several learned societies in which he holds membership, and has written articles for several
well-known medical publications. He has contributed to the Brook/yu Medical Journal from its inception.
His social club connections are with the Germania and Riding and Driving clubs
Military and club as well as social and medical circles have long been familiar with the presence of
£.DwiN A LEWIS, M. D., for ten years surgeon of the 23d Regiment and professor of anatomy in the Long
Island College Hospital. He was born in Naugatuck, Conn., in 1847 and settled in Brooklyn in 1875 He
'TJlltTf ^™"!^^'^ ^°"ege i" 1870, and in 1873 was graduated with high honors at Bellevue Hospital
I he two years intervening between his graduation and his settlement in Brooklyn were
Samuel Sherwell, II. D.
Medical College.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
691
Edwin A. Lewis, M. D.
spent by him in Bellevue Hospital as resident interne.
He was made surgeon to the Brooklyn City Dispensary
in 187s, and the year following, 1876, became surgeon
to the 23d Regiment. He early identified himself with
the best elements of Brooklyn life. He became a mem-
ber of the Kings County Medical Society, the Brook-
lyn Pathological Society, and the Brooklyn Surgical
Society, and as well of the Brooklyn Excelsior and
Germania clubs and the Union League Club, of New
York. He served two years as police surgeon and two
as fire surgeon under the administration of Mayor
Low. He is visiting surgeon in the Brooklyn and the
Long Island College hospitals and consulting surgeon
to the Eastern District Hospital. His contributions to
the medical magazines have given him a place among
writers on scientific subjects.
Arnold Welles Catlin, M. A., M. D., was born
in Hudson, N. Y., on September 25, 1841, and came
with his parents to Brooklyn when he was four years
old. He made his preparatory studies for college at
Dr. Richards' seminary in the old house at Litchfield,
Conn., where Henry Ward and Harriet Beecher were
born. Entering Yale College in 1858, he was gradu-
ated in 1862 and at once began his medical studies,
spending two years at the College of Physicians and
Surgeons in New York city and his third year in the
University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1865. After serving honorably during the Civil war
as an assistant surgeon he began practice in Philadelphia ; but later he returned to Yale to obtain the
degree of Master of Arts and then went abroad to study in France and Germany. In the year 1868 he
settled in Brooklyn, where he has since engaged in a successful practice. He has been connected with St.
John's Hospital alm.ost from its inception as one of the attending physicians and was one of the first to
move in the work of establishing the Home for Consumptives, serving also for a time on its staff. In the
spring of 1880 he married Miss Cornelia W. Wood-
' '"":" ward, of Brooklyn, and was left a widower the follow-
ing year. Subsequently, in the fall of 1885, he married
Miss Elizabeth L. Woodward. He has one son and
one daughter. Benefaction attends tlie work of the
skilled physician, and where there is added to skill the
quality of heart which gives birth to personal interest
in his patient, he becomes not only the medical coun-
sellor, but the valued friend. Dr. Catlin is such a
physician and his generous meed of success is the
natural result of an absorbing interest in his art, and
an unselfish, devoted love for his suffering fellow
creatures. His belief that the work of healing is not
confined to the weakened body, but extends to the
broken spirit, is attested by a grateful and loyal fol-
lowing. Love of literature is one of his strong charac-
teristics and his extensive acquaintance with books
and libraries has naturally called forth a deep interest
in the cause of education by the free distribution of
pure reading matter among the masses. He has been
liberal with his time and means in forwarding this
work and the Long Island Free Library, of which he
has been president for many years, practically owes
its existence to his guiding energy and ever zealous
devotion.
Joseph Howard Raymond, M. D., has long been
ARNOLD Welles Catlin, m. d. identified with all that is most progressive in medical
692 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
matters in Kings Count^^ He was born in Brool<lyn in 1845 and is a graduate of the Polytechnic Insti-
tute ; he took his bachelor's degree at Willianrs College in 1866, and his degree in medicine at the Long
Island College Hospital in 1868. The following year he received also a degree from the College of Phy-
sicians and Surgeons in New York ; and at about the same time was made a iVIaster of Arts by his alma
mater. He then went to Europe and studied his profession in Paris and Berlin. Returning to this country
in the summer of 1S70 he was appointed resident physician at the Nursery and Child's Hospital, and the
Idiot Asylum on Randall's Island ; these positions he held until 187 1, when he was made resident physician
and surgeon at the Brooklyn City Hospital. The following year he served for a short time as public vac-
cinator, and at this time entered into practice. In the same year, 1872, he was appointed assistant to the
chair of physiology in the Long Island College Hospital, and two years later he was made professor of that
department, which position he still holds. His chair has, for the past ten years, also included sanitarv
science, and he is secretary to the faculty. In 1876, he was appointed visiting physician to St. Peter's Hos-
pital ; previous to this period, however, in 1873, he had become sanitary inspector, an office which he held
up to the time when he was appointed sanitary superintendent in 1877. In 1882 he was appointed health
commissioner by Mayor Seth Low, a position which he filled with ability and distinction during the four years
of Mr. Low's mayoralty. Dr. Raymond's father, Israel Ward Raymond, was an old resident of Brooklyn, and
with his brothers, John H. and Robert R. Raymond, was one of the founders of the Hamilton Literary
Association, afterwards the Hamilton Club. I. W. Raymond was one of the earliest of California pioneers
and was well known as a steamship man throughout the United States, being at one time vice-president of
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Dr. Raymond is a direct descendant of Richard Raymond, of Salem
Mass., who was made a freeman (or citizen) of Massachusetts in 1634. He was a member of the first jury ever
impanelled in Salem. His grandfather was Eliakim Raymond, who was prominent in the public, church and
benevolent affairs of Brooklyn seventy years ago. On his mother's side. Dr. Raymond descends from Joseph
Howard, of Salem, Mass., and afterwards of Brooklyn. He has made a reputation as editor of the Brooklyn
Medical Journal ^'mce its first issue in 1888; as vice-president of the American Public Health Association;
director of the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital ; director, secretary and treasurer of the Hoagland Labora-
tory; lecturer on physiology and hygiene in the Brooklyn Normal School for Physical Education ; member of
the Medical Society of the County of Kings ; fellow of the Gynecological Society ; visiting physician of
the Seaside Home at Coney Island ; medical adviser of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities, and trustee of
the Polytechnic Institute. For the past eight years he has been a physician in the dispensary of the Long
Island College Hospital, during the last five of which he has been connected with the department of
diseases of women. In private practice he is associated with Dr. Alexander T. C. Skene.
Samuel Flket Spi-;ir, M. D., is one of the most conspicuous characters among the physicians of Brook-
lyn. He was born in this city, where he has always lived and here has been the field of those labors which
have gained for him fortune and distinction. Combining the work of a general practitioner with the facili-
ties of a specialist, he has made it possible for his patients to have under his own eye and amid home-like
surroundings all the advantages of special treatment and hospital service. He maintains a private labora-
tory of his own and three chemists to prepare his prescriptions. Four buildings are demanded for the
wants of his various departments. He was graduated from the Medical Department of the University of
New York in 1S60, with high honors, when twenty-two years of age. He is the son of a distinguished
New York merchant, Robert Speir, and of Hannah Fleet Speir, a member of one of the oldest families on
Long Island. Samuel Fleet, the grandfather of S. Fleet Speir, was a lineal descendant, in the fifth gene-
ration, from Captain Thomas Fleet, the American ancestor of the Fleet family, who came to this
country about 1650, and settled at Northport, near Huntington, L. I. The English patronymic was
Fleetwood, the latter part of the name having been dropped on liis arrival in America by Captain
Thomas Fleet, son of Sir William Fleetwood, an admiral in the English navy. Captain Thomas Fleet,
previous to ccnning to this country, was an officer in the British navy and possessed of ample means ; he
became one of the original patentees of Huntington, L. I. Dr. Speir was educated at the Polytechnic
Institute and by a private tutor. After his graduation he went abroad, where he spent some eighteen
months attending the various hospitals and clinics. He caused the introduction of the use of plaster of
pans splints into the army of the Potomac, and received the thanks of the United States sanitary commis-
sion. Upon his return from his second European trip in 1864, where his studies were chiefly in the direc-
tion of ophthalmology and ot.jlogy, he was appointed surgeon of the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Infirmary.
During this year he wrote a monograph on the " Pathology of Jaundice," for which he was awarded a gold
medal by the American Medical Association. Among the other papers which have assisted to gain him a
high reputation m medical literature an essay on a new method of arresting surgical hemorrhage by the
artery constrictor won the " Merritt H. Cash prize," awarded by the New York State Medical Society.
His plan of procedure has subsequently been embodied in the works on surgery of Professors Gross and
Hamilton as well as of Bryant of Guy's Hospital, London. He is a member of the American Medical
S. Fleet Spier, M. D.
694
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Association, the New York State Medical Society, the New York Pathological Society, the Kings County
Medical Society, and the New York Journal Association, a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine,
and by invitation a member of the " International Medical Congress " which was held in Philadelphia in
1876. He has served as physician, curator and microscopist to the Brooklyn City Hospital, of which he is
surgeon ; and he has served as surgeon in the tumor and cancer department of the Brooklyn City Dispen-
sary and as demonstrator of anatomy to the Long Island College Hospital. He originated the Dispensary
of the Helping Hand. In addition to his office at 162 Montague street he has one at Bensonhurst-by-the-
Sea, where he has his summer home. To his foresight and liberality was due the establishment of the
seaside sanitarium for children at Coney Island, of which he was the visiting physician ; he has long been
a member of the board of trustees of the Children's Aid Society. He is president of the Robins Island
Gun Club at Great Peconic Bay, L. I., an organization of which he was the founder.
A native of Bath, Me., and a graduate of Bowdoin
College, CH.4RLES Jewett, M. D., brought his habits
of New England energy to a congenial field when he
made his home in Brooklyn in 1867. About that time
he began the study of medicine and was graduated
from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1871.
In 1880 he received the appointment of professor of
obstetrics and diseases of children in the Long Island
College Hospital, a position which he still holds. He
is also a member of the hospital staff and is recognized
as one of the most eminent gynecological specialists
in the country. He was for a time editor of the An-
nals of the Anatomical and Surgical Society. He is the
author of one or two well-known books in his specialty
and of numerous papers on obstetrical and other sub-
jects. Among the learned bodies with which he is
identified are the Medical Society of Kings County,
of which he was three times elected president, in the
years of 1879, 1880, and 1881 ; the Brooklyn Gyneco-
logical Society, the Brooklyn Pathological Society, the
New York State Medical Society, the New York Acad-
emy of Medicine, the New York Obstetrical Society,
and both the British and American Gynecological soci-
eties. He is a trustee of the Eye and Ear Infirmary
and vice-president of the New York Physicians' Mutual
Aid Society, a member of the New England Society
and of the Union League Club of Brooklyn. He has
been appointed honorary chairman of the obstetric
section of the Pan-American Medical Congress for 1893.
John D. Rushmore, M. D., is a member of the faculty of the Long Island College Hospital. His birth
occurred in this city in 1845. In 1864 he was graduated from the Polytechnic and Collegiate Institute; he
entered Williams College the same year, and was graduated in 1867. He received his degree of Doctor of
Medicine from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York city, three years later. During one
winter he served in the Child's Hospital, on Randall's Island, and the following year he served in the Brook-
lyn Hospital. In 1872 he began practicing privately in connection with the late Dr. J. C. Hutchison; some
six years later he associated himself with Dr. C. L. Mitchell, continuing until the death of Dr. Mitchell. He
is professor of surgery at the Long Island College Hospital, attending surgeon to the Brooklyn Hospital,
St. Peter's Hospital and the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital. He is a member of the New York State
Medical Association, New York Ophthalmological and Otological Society, New York Surgical Society,
American Ophthalmological Society, American Otological Society, American Medical Association, and the
American Surgical Association. He is also a member and an e.\-president of the King County Medical
Association, and a member of the Hamilton Club.
William Maddren, M. D., has been engaged in the practice of medicine in Brooklyn about twenty
years and is one of those physicians who continually make a study of their profession. He was born in
London, England, on August 14, 1845, and has lived in Brooklyn since 1857. His primary education was
acquired at the public schools and under private instruction, and he studied medicine at the Bellevue
Medical College, New York city, where he was graduated in 1873. For twenty years he has been con-
nected with the Brooklyn Central Dispensary as attending physician in the department of diseases of
Charles Jewett, M. D.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
695
William Maddren, M. D.
women and children, and surgery. He is a member
of Kings County Medical Society and a permanent
member of the Medical Society of the State of New
York, treasurer of the Brooklyn Gynecological Society,
and a member of the Brooklyn Pathological Society,
the Practitioners' Club of Brooklyn and the New York
Physicians' Mutual Aid Association. His contributions
to medical literature have been of a practical and
valuable character, including a paper on " Trichinosis,"
published in the " Proceedings of the Medical Society
of the County of Kings, August, 1879," an article on
"The Complications and Sequelse of Typhoid Fever,"
in the Brooklyn Medical Journal of December, 1889;
and " A Few Remarks upon the Brandt System of
Treatment of the Diseases of Women," published in
the same journal in May, 1892.
John E. Richardson, M. D., was born in Albany,
N. Y., on February 28, 185 1. He is the son of William
and Mary Richardson. In April, 1865, he removed with
his parents to New York city and in November, 1867,
they made Brooklyn their residence. He entered the
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, taking the liberal
course. From there in 1873 he went to the College
of Physicians and Surgeons of New York city. From
this college he was graduated in 1877, being chosen
president of his class ; he was also one of the honor
men of his class. After graduation he became an interne in the Brooklyn Hospital, in which institution he
served in both the medical and surgical wards a year and a half. At the expiration of this period he left
the hospital and went to Europe, spending considerable time in the hospitals of Vienna, Berlin and London,
under the personal instruction of such men as Profs. Von Langenbeck, Billroth, Politzer, Hebra, Virchow,
Tobold, Lister, Jonathan Hutchinson and Morrell Mackenzie. After spending nearly a year and a half in
Europe he returned to Brooklyn, and in January, 1880, commenced the practice of his profession. Among
the different professional positions of honor which he
has held have been those of police surgeon for five
years, surgeon to the Brooklyn Orthopedic Infirmary,
physician to the Sheltering Arms Nursery, the Baptist
Home and surgeon to the Atlantic Avenue Railroad
Company and the Long Island Railroad Company. He
is a member of the Kings County Medical Society,
the Kings County Medical Association, the Brooklyn
Pathological Society, the Brooklyn Surgical Society,
the New York Academy of Medicine and the Phy-
sicians' Mutual Aid Association. He has written many
articles on subjects of interest to the profession which
he has read before the different societies of which he
is a member. He is a member of the Emmanuel
Baptist Church, and of the Oxford, Germania and
Riding and Driving clubs.
William H. B. Pratt, M. D., is one of the leading
family physicians in Brooklyn and has been established
a number of years in the twenty-second ward, his home
being at 94 Sixth avenue. He was born in Brooklyn,
in 1842, and after attending school in Hartford, Conn.,
entered Yale College in the class of 1864, with which
he was graduated. Taking the full course of study at
the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, he
was graduated from that institution in 1867 and supple-
mented his medical education by twelve months' service
John e. Richardson, m. d. as an interne at Bellevue Hospital, New York. This
^
696
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
he followed up by three years of study in Vienna,
where he took a general course. He devotes himself
to family practice, but he was visiting physician at
the Methodist Episcopal Hospital from its opening
until April, 1892, and he is now consulting physician
at that hospital. He is a member of the Kings
County Medical Society and is a contributor to its
annals. Otb.er organizations iu which he holds mem-
bership are the Yale Alumni Association, the Skull and
Bones Society of Yale, the Psi Upsilon fraternity, the
Carleton and the Riding and Driving clubs. He is a
past master of Orion Lodge, 717, F. & A. M. In 1876
he married Miss Mary H. Houghton, of Brooklyn, and
they have two sons and one daughter ; the family
attends Grace M. E. Church, in which Dr. Pratt holds
the office of trustee.
One of the oldest and most respected of the long
established practitioners of the city is Dr. Stephen
Chandler Grigos. He comes of an old family, dis-
tinguished through many generations in the annals of
New England. He was born at Pomfret, Conn., in
1S19, and received a liberal education at Brown Uni-
versity. For several years he taught school in Massa-
chusetts and subsequently in Maryland, but turning
to the study of medicine, he took his degree at the
New York University in 1S49 and in the following wiluam h. b. Pratt, m. d.
year began to practice in Danielsonville, Conn. L: 1858 he married Miss Harriet Backus, of the well-
known New England family of that name, and in i860 settled in Brooklyn, where he soon acquired an
extensive practice and became the valued friend as well as medical advisor of many of the leading families
of the city. Always a generous friend and helper to the younger generation of physicians, he enjoys the
esteem of all his fellows in the Kings County Medical Association, of which he has been a member for
more than thirty years. His unfailing modesty prevented him from accepting the presidency of the asso-
ciation, which was offered to him. At different times
he has been connected in an official capacity with the
Orphan Asylum Society, the Home for Destitute Chil-
dren, and the Central Dispensary ; he is at present
consulting physician in the Bedford Dispensary. Dr.
Griggs is not a specialist, but his most extensive
experience has been in the obstetrical branch of medi-
cal science, in which he is recognized as one of the.
most competent authorities. He has an intense and
genuine love of nature and his close personal obscr-
vatit)n has given him a minute knowledge of the habits
of birds and the peculiarities of flowers. His earlyfond-
ness for hunting and llshing has never deserted him and
his aim is still as steady and his skill as great as among
his native hills of New England half a century ago.
'Phe "president of the Brooklyn Surgical Society
for 1891-92, Hi'.NRY ^V. Rand, M. D., is a physician
who has won distinguished consideration from the
citizens of Brooklyn, as well as from his colleagues in
the medical profession. He is clinical professor of
genito-urinary diseases m the Long Island College
Hospital, a'ld is lecturer on surgery in the reading
term. Pie was born in Nova Scotia in 185 1, and gradu-
ated at Acadia University in 1873, receiving subse-
quently the degree of i\Lister of Arts. After graduation
he studied in Bellevue Hospital Medical College and
took his degree as Doctor of Medicine in 1877, obtaining
Henry W. Rand, M. D.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
697
Prank E. West, M. D.
a prize for his final examination in obstetrics. He
was tlie same year appointed resident physician and
surgeon in the Brooklyn Hospital, after which he was
appointed attending surgeon to the Brooklyn Ortho-
pedic Infirmary, filling the latter position four years.
For several years he was visiting physician to the Home
for Destitute Women and Children, on Concord street,
and had charge of the department of -diseases of
women at the Atlantic Avenue Dispensary. During
this period he was also surgeon-in-ordinary at the Long
Island College Hospital dispensary. In 1884 he was
appointed attending surgeon to the Long Island Col-
lege Hospital and in 1890 to St. John's Hospital, and
he is filling both positions at the present time. He
has contributed a number of articles to medical jour-
nals, mostly on surgical topics. He is a member of
the Kings County Medical Society, Brooklyn Surgical ^
Society, Brooklyn Pathological Society and Physicians'
Mutual Aid Association.
Frank Eliot West, M. D., professor of materia
medica, therapeutics, and clinical medicine, in the
Long Island College Hospital, was an active agent for
the relief of suffering in Brooklyn's greatest tragedy,
the burning of the Brooklyn Theatre in December,
1876. As the surgeon attached to the ambulance from
the Long Island College Hospital, he was called to
the scene of the calamity while the. living were yet entombed within the smoking walls. During the awful
scenes which ensued his efficient service, his energy and devotion won him a reputation and a grateful
recognition in the memory of the people. He was born in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1851, and obtained the degree
of Master of Arts from Williams College in 1872. His degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred by the
Long Island College Hospital in 1876 ; and until 187S, when he finally settled in Brooklyn, he acted as
interne in that institution. Although making a specialty of diseases of the chest, his general practice has
embraced every department of his profession, and
success has attended his efforts. He was made a mem-
ber of the faculty of the Long Island College Hospital
in 1886, but he had been teaching since 1881. His
lectures were principally on physical diagnosis, and
diseases of the kidneys, heart and lungs. As physician
to the Brooklyn Throat Hospital and the Long Island
College Hospital he is constantly e.xtending the scope
of his usefulness. He was president of the Kings
County Medical Society in 1891, and is now one of its
trustees. He is a member of the Physicians' Mutual
Aid Society, the New York State Medical Society, the
New York Academy of Medicine, and of the Hamilton
and Cermania clubs of Brooklyn, and the Alpha Delta
Phi Club, of New York.
John C. Sh.\w, M. D., is the professor of mental
and nervous diseases and the consulting physician on
the same specialties at the Long Island College Hos-
pital. He was born in the island of Jamaica, West
Indies, in 1845. Lie came to the LTnitcd States for the
purpose of studying medicine, and attended lectures
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New
York, receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine in
1862. For a time he continued to combine the study
and practice of medicine after the manner of young
physicians, but in 1878 he became superintendent of
ToHN c. Shaw, M. D. the Kings County Insane Asylum. After resigning
^ir
698
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Charlks L. Donnell, M. D.
that post he was appointed to fill various other import-
ant positions, until he formed his present connection
with the Long Island College Hospital. He is the
consulting physician on nervous diseases at St. Catha-
rine's Hospital and in several sanitariums which make
the treatment of these disorders a specialty. He is
the author of a number of papers on various branches
of this subject, and of a te.xt-book on the "Essentials
of Nervous Diseases and Lisanity."
Among the homceopathists in Brooklyn who have
commanded success and distinction is Charles L.
BoNNF.i.i,, A. M., M. D. Born in Brooklyn in 1846,
he was graduated at the Wesleyan University in 1868
and received the degree of A. M. from his alma mater
in 1S71. He was graduated in the spring of that year
from the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadcliihia,
after two years' preliminary study in the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, New York, and settled to
practice in Brooklyn in 1872. He has been president
of the Kings County Homoeopathic Medical Society
two terms and for five years chief of staff in the Homoa-
opathic Hospital, to which he is visiting surgeon. He
is a member of the New York State Homoeopathic
Medical Society, has been a director eight years of
the Brooklyn Young Men's Christian Association and
is a member of the Montauk Club. He is prominently
connected with the Hanson l^lace Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been secretary of its board of trustees
eighteen years. He was si.x years on the staff of the ISrooklyn Maternity and has been a lecturer to the training
school for nurses both in that institution and the Homoeopathic Hospital. He is ecjually well known in social
and in professional circles. On both sides his family has long been identified with Brooklyn. His father,
Nathaniel Bonnell, who died in 1873, was an '^^'^ Brooklynite and his mother's father, the distinguished Shepard
Lewis, dated his connection with Brooklyn back almost to the revolutionary days when it was a village.
A high rank among general practitioners is held
by Julio J. La^liurid, M.D ,who has been established ■ ™,^,,.„..,_^.^^,;__„^
in Brooklyn a score of years. He was born in Barran-
quilla. United States of Colombia, on April 14, 184S,
and is a grandson of the late Bishop Antonio Lama-
drid. He was educated at the CoUegio de Lavalle y
Pombo in the town of Carthagena. Coming to New
York in 1866 he studied at the Manhattanville College
and later at the New York University. He was gradu-
ated from the medical college of the LTniversity of
Pennsylvania in 1871, and established himself in medi-
cal practice in Middletown, Orange County, N. Y.,
where he remained two years; at the end of that time
he moved to Brooklyn and opened an office at 412
Greene avenue. He has remained there ever since,
and has built up a large practice. Among many valu-
able papers which he has written in connection with
his profession are: " Railroad Fractures, Amputation,"
and " On Fistulous Opening over the Sacrum, contain-
ing Llair," both published in the Philadelphia Alcdical
Times in 1873; " 'Phe Lifluence on the Lifant of aMedi-
cmes, Particularly Narcotics, Administered to the
Mother during Pregnancy and I^abijr," American Jour-
nal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Children [1877 J; "A
Supposed Case of Melancholia," read before the Medi-
cal Society of the County of Kings and published in the
"Proceedings" of that year; " .V Case of l^ierperal Julio j. Lamadrid, M. D.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS. 699
Convulsions in Eighth Month of Utero-gestation before and after Delivery, Successfully Treated by Chloro-
form and the Induction of Premature Labor, with Remarks on the Treatment," American Journal of
Obstetrics and Diseases of Children, 1878; "A Case of Opium Poisoning treated by large doses of Atropia
hypodermically; Recovery," Philadelphia J/<?(?iVa/ Times, 1878; " Pruritus Hiemalis," and " Camphor Poison-
ing, followed by Symptoms of Acute Gastritis; Recovery," both published in the same journal in 1879; "A
Case of Labor complicated by a Narrow Pelvis and Prolapse of the Cord," "Craniotomy, with remarks,"
proceedings of the Medical Society of the County of Kings, 1S80; "Treatment of Post-partum Hemor-
rhage," same journal, 1881.
A. Wilbur Jackson, M. D., is a native of New York, in which city he was born in 1848. His early
education was obtained at the Polytechnic Institute of this city, whence he went to Yale College. In 1867
he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Berkshire Medical College, in Pittsfield, Mass., and
A. Wilbur Jackson, M. D.
at once became a special practitioner in Brooklyn. He has made a special study of mental and nervous
diseases and electro-therapeutics, and has largely treated " morphinomania " and chronic alcoholism, both
in this country and Europe. In Paris he acted as the colleague of Dr. Oscar Jennings. He is a member of the
Electro-Therapeutic Society of Paris, and a fellow of the Scientific Society of London. He is the author of
many medical works and pamphlets, and has invented several medical instruments greatly admired by pro-
fessional men. He was at one time head of a hospital in this city, devoted to the treatment of diseases
induced by excessive indulgence in morphine or alcohol. He removed to New York in 1S92, and is at
present an examiner for the New York state commission in lunacy.
George McNaughton, M. D., is a Scotchman by ancestry and a New Yorker by birth. His academic
education was received in Monroe County, N. Y., where he lived from the time of his birth, in 1856,
until his removal to New York to attend the lectures at Bellevue Hospital, from which institution he was
graduated in .878. After a hospital course of one year in Jersey City he settled in Brooklyn m 18S.. He
was the first man appointed under the civil service rule as assistant sanitary inspector to the board of
health, a capacity in which he served four years. He is a member of the Kings County Medical Soae y^th
Brooklyn Gynecological Society and the New York Academy of Medicine, and ,s a delegate to the New
700
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
George McNaughton, M, D.
York State Society. He is the assistant gynecologist
at tlie Long Island College Hospital and was formerly
connected with the Brooklyn Central Dispensary and
the Long Island College Hospital Dispensary, in the
latter of which he has charge of the department of dis-
eases of women. In his practice he makes a specialty
of gynecology. He has contributed a number of valu-
able papers to various medical journals, among which
have been noticeable those on " Extra Peritoneal Hfem-
atocele," on " Primary Cancer of the Pancreas," and
"Separation of the Synphyses Pubis during Labor."
Dr. McNaughton demonstrated for the first time in
Brooklyn O'Dwyer's method of intubing the larnyx.
He is a member of the Practitioners, the Brooklyn,
Oxford, Crescent and Aurora Grata clubs.
Wii.i-iAM Morris Butlf.r, M. D., specialist on ner-
vous diseases, has done much to advance the cause of
homoeopathy in l^rooklyn. As an author of many pam-
phlets presenting the claims of homoeopathy, and on
the treatment of nervous diseases and on the care of
the insane, he has often attracted public attention since
he settled in Brooklyn in 1883 ; and his brother physi-
cians recognized his abilities in January, 1892, by elect-
ing him president of the Is.ings County Homoeopathic
Society and by sending him as one of the fourteen
candidates from whom were to be chosen seven to rep-
resent the homoeopaths on the state board of medicine. He was born in Maine, N. Y., in 1850, and was
educated at Cortland Academy and Hamilton College, receiving his degree from the New York College of
Physicians and Surgeons, and from the American Institute of Homoeopathy and Hahnemann. He settled
in Brooklyn in 1883. Prior to that time he had been connected with the State Homoeopathic Hospital
for the insane at Middletown for nine years ; he received its first patient. During his terra of service
he was given one year's leave of absence to study abroad. He passed the winter of 1877-8 attending lectures
in the School of Medicine of Paris and taking a special
course of lectures under Dr. Charcot and private clini- .v.,-. - : - xi^'st;- ;-.
cal instruction in La Salle Detoriese, the great nervous
disease hospital of France in which 4,000 women are . -
confined. He is the visiting physician having charge
of nervous diseases in the Brooklyn Homoeopathic
Hospital, consulting physician in the Brooklyn Me-
morial Hospital and lecturer in the Training School for
Nurses. He is a member of the American Institute of
Homoeopathy, the International Hahnemannian Asso-
ciation, and the New York State Homoeopathic So-
ciety. His treatise on " Home Care of the Insane" is
considered one of the most valuable of his contro-
versial papers.
Glentwokth Reid Butler, M. I)., was born in
Philadelphia in 1854 and came with his parents to
Brooklyn when eleven years old. He is the son of the
Rev. J. Glentworth Butler, D. D. After preliminary
preparation at Professor I)avids(jn's Academy he en-
tered Hamilton College, from which he was graduated
in 1877. Three years later he was made a doctor of
medicine by the Long Island Cdllege H(jspital and
served as interne in that institution one year. This
position he resigned to become a visiting physician at
St. Mary's Hospital in cliarge of the department of
diseases of the chest. He discharged the functions of
this office during the period from 1882 to 1891, acting William m. butler, m. d,
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
701
also through two years of this time as visiting phy-
sician for the Hospital for Mental and Nervous Dis-
eases. He was for five years the president of the staff
of the Atlantic Avenue Dispensary and for two years
was adjunct physician at St. John's Hospital. He was
the first assistant at the Methodist Episcopal Hospital,
with which he has been connected since its inaugur-
ation and since February, i8gi, has been attending
physician. He is also the physician to the Training
School for Nurses, and is one of the lecturers in the
course of instruction there. He has published a text-
book entitled " Emergency Notes," besides various
articles in the New York Medical Journal, the Brooklyn
Medical Journal and elsewhere. He is a member of
the Medical Society of the County of Kings, of which
he is the censor and assistant secretary ; he is also a
member of the Gynecological Society, the Pathological
Society, the Climatological Society and a delegate to
the State Medical Society,
Born in Ohio, of directly American, but remotely
Scotch ancestry, John A. McCorkle, M. I)., received
his degree in medicine from the University of Michigan
in 1873, taking a second degree at the Long Island Col-
lege Hospital in the same year and settling in Brook-
lyn in the year of his graduation. He had obtained
John A. McCORKLE, M. D. ,. ... ■ ^ n .^ r ^ ■ ■ • TT- /-^ II
his prehminary mtellectual training in Hiram College,
at that time under the direction of the late President Garfield. In 1874 he was appointed lecturer on
chemistry at the Long Island College Hospital, and shortly after acted as chemist to the Brooklyn board,
of health, establishing the present excellent chemical laboratory in connection with this department of the
city government. He resigned this position only in deference to the claims of his general practice. In
1880 he received the appointment of professor of materia medica and therapeutics at the Long Island
College Hospital, holding this position until 1886, when he was appointed to the chair of theory and practice
of medicine and clinical medicine, made vacant by the
death of the late Professor Samuel G. Armour, M. D., -
LL. D. Since 1881 he has also held the position of
vis. ting physician to the hospital. He is a member of .
Kings County Medical Society, of which he was presi-
dent two terms. He is also a member of the Kings
County Pathological Society, the New York Academy
of Medicine, the Hamilton, Crescent and Excelsior
clubs. He has made a number of contributions to
medical literature on the subjects of therapeutics and
general medicine, but has more especially devoted him-
self to didactic and clinical teaching in the institution
with which he has been connected during the whole
of his professional career.
The name of Elias Hudson Bartley, M. D., has
been familiar to Brooklynites for half a decade. As
chief chemist of the health department, he made dur-
ing his six years' term analyses of Brooklyn's wells
that were read all over the world ; and his reports on
food supplies were topics of periodical interest and dis-
cussion. He is professor of chemistry and toxicology
and lecturer on diseases of children in the I, ong Island
College Hospital and attending physician at the Shel-
tering Arms Nursery. Born in Bartleyville, N. J,, he
was graduated from Cornell University in 1873 with
the degree of Bachelor of Science, and was appointed
instructor in analytical chemistry at his alma mater
EUAS H. Bartley, M. D.
702
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
William Browning, M. D.
in 1S74. His chemical investigations led him to study
medicine. He resigned a lucrative professorship in
Strathmore College and began his studies in Philadel-
phia. After one year there he entered the Long Island
College Hospital and settled in Brooklyn as a practising
physician. He is a member of the Medical Society of
the County of Kings, the Brooklyn Pathological Society,
the American Chemical Society, the American Associ-
ation for the Advancement of Science, the American
Public Health Association and the Kings County Board
of Pharmacy. His work, " Elements of Medical Chem-
istry," is a standard te.xt book. The annual reports of
the health department from 18S4 to 1889 furnish other
evidences of his erudition.
One of the physicians in Brooklyn to whom the
profession is indebted for the infusion in current prac-
tice of some of the best influences of the German School
is WiLi.iAM Browning, M. D. He was born in Brook-
lyn and was graduated from the Sheffield Scientific
School of Yale College in 1876, and in 18S1 from the
University of Leipsic, from which he received the de-
gree of Doctor of Medicine. Returning to New York
in the same year he at once received the appointment
of house physician at the German Hospital, and estab-
lished himself in Brooklyn in the following year. Since
1883 he has been neurologist to the Long Island Hos-
pital Dispensary, and since 1887 he has acted as lecturer on anatomy and physiology of the nervous system
at the Long Island College Hospital. He is a member of the editorial staffs of the Annals of Surgery and
the Brooklyn Medical Journal, and a member of the Brooklyn Society for Neurology, the Association of
American Anatomists, and the American Neurological Association. His contributions to medical literature
have been many and have attracted wide attention.
Henry Bullwinkle, M.D., superintendent of the Hospital for Contagious Diseases, is widely known in
Brooklyn, and his professional ability and social qual-
ities have made him popular. His father and mother
left Hanover, Germany, in 1848, and on coming to
America settled in Brooklyn, where Dr. Bullwinkle
was born on September 24, 1865. Having studied at
public school No. 3 and St. Luke's Academy, he be-
came a student with Dr. Pennoyer, who prepared him
for a course of study at the Bellevue Hospital Medical
College. He was graduated in 1888, and he secured
practical e.^perience in surgery in the surgical depart-
ment of the Ninety-ninth street Reception Hospital in
New York and then in St. Catharine's Hospital, Brook-
lyn. During this period he was appointed a food
inspector in the department of health, and held the
position until he was appointed superintendent of the
Hospital for Contagious Diseases in iSgi. He is an
earnest, studious physician, and brmgs to bear upon
his work a combination of knowledge, skill and keen
observation that promises to have a marked influence
in developing that branch of medical science which
deals with contagious diseases, although it is his ulti-
mate aim to engage in general practice. He is coura-
geous and indefatigable, and shrinks from no responsi-
bility. An adventure which he had on April 10, 1892,
was an illustration of the man's indomitable will, for
he took a young small-pox patient from a house in
lower Sackett street at the peril of his own life. The
Henry Bullwinkle, M, D.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
703
Joshua M. Van Cott, Jr., M. D.
patient was a boy whose father objected to his being
taken from their home, which was in a crowded tene-
ment building, and sent two pistol balls whizzing past
the doctor's ears when the removal was begun. The
boy's life was saved by skillful treatment, and the
father thanked the man he had tried to kill. Dr. Bull-
winkle is a firm believer in the Democratic party, but
is prevented by his position from taking an active part
in politics. He married on June 8, 1892, Miss Rost, of
Brooklyn.
Joshua Marsden Van Cott, Jr., M D., son of
the Hon. J. M. Van Cott, was born in the city of New
York in i86i,and his residence in Brooklyn began one
year later. His primary education was acquired at the
Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, and he
afterward obtained a thorough business education in
Wall street, with the banking firm of Blake Bros. & Co.
In 1882 he commenced the study of medicine, which
had been always a fixed purpose with him, matricu-
lating at the Long Island College Hospital. In 1885
he was graduated, and received appointment as interne
on the house staff of the hospital, serving there si.Kteen
months. Leaving the hospital in the summer of 1886 -ij
he was appointed to the department of histology and ;,
pathological anatomy in the Long Island College Hos-
pital as adjunct to the chair and also a physician-in-
ordinary to the out-patient department, holding there the chair of diseases of children. In the fall of 1888
he went to Berlin, Germany, spending si.x months with Professor Koch in the study of bacteriology, and
three months in the study of general pathology with Professor Rudolph Virchow, at the Pathological Insti-
tute of the Berlin University. He visited all the important hospitals and laboratories in Germany, Austria,
the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and some of the medical institutes in London, returning home ate in the
summer of 1889. He was then appointed a surgeon-in-ordinary to the out-patient department at the Long
Island College Hospital, pathologist to the hospital
■ ■• and adjunct professor of pathology. When tht Broo/i-
.ii- , ■ . ■ ' fyn Medical Journal was founded he accepted the
^^Bp charge of the department of pathology under the gen-
eral head of " Progress in Medicine," a function which
he still performs. In 1891 Professor Frank Ferguson
resigned the chair of pathology at the college and Dr.
Van Cott was appointed his successor. In the same
year, it being deemed advisable by the regents to send
to Berlin for the Koch lymph. Professor Van Cott was
chosen to fulfill this mission, which was accomplished
between January 19 and February 17, 1891. Dr. Van
Cott is director of the department of pathology at the
Hoagland Laboratory ; he is a member of the Kings
County Medical Society, New York Pathological Soci-
ety, pathologist to the Brooklyn Ciynecological Society
and president of the Brooklyn Pathological Society.
' He is a member of Dr. Storrs' church, and maintains
his social relations as a member of the Hamilton and
Crescent y\thletic clubs.
George Smith, M. D., was born in Milton, Ulster
County, N. Y., on November 12, 1843, and inherited a
splendid physique and a perfect constitution. Having
laitl the foundations of a broad culture by study at the
academies of his native town, he entered upon the study
of medicine with a zest and enthusiasm born of keen
George Smith, m. d. love for his work. Circumstances forced him to earn
7°4
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
the money to pay for his medical education and he
cheerfully accepted the conditions. He was graduated
at the New York Homoeopathic Medical College in
i86g, with an excellent record, and started immedi-
ately to build up a practice. He is a typical family
doctor of the old type. He has never been a specialist,
written text-books nor attached himself to exacting
hospital work. He has just visited the sick, year in
and year out, day after day without easing the strain,
and night after night. without seeking his bed. He has
never spared himself. This industry was prodigious
and his practice grew apace with resultant growth of
his wealth and reputation. What spare time he found
he gave to his family and now and then to a day in
the woods with a gun and a dog. His family and pro-
fessional necessities demand two houses, his residence
being in the large brownstone house on the corner of
Greene and Reid avenues, and his offices occupying
the adjoining residence.
Reuben Jefferv, M. E., M. D., is a Brooklyn phy-
sician whose great-grandfather and grandfather were
physicians of marked ability and ranked among the
foremost medical men of their day. His father, the
late Rev. Reuben Jeffery, D. D., was the first pastor of
the iVlarcy Avenue Baptist Church and by his elo-
reube.n jEFFERi, . . qucuce aud persoual quallties was cnablcd to bulld Up
the largest congregation and Sunday-school of that denomination in Brookl3'n. Dr. Reuben Jeffery is one
of the younger physicians of the city. He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on October 14, i860. He had the
educational advantages of the Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn, Colgate University, Columbia College School
of Mines, the University of Colorado and the Long Island College Hospital. The University of Colorado
conferred on him the degree of Mining Engineer in 1881 and the Long Island College Hospital the degree
of Doctor of Medicine in 1885. After receiving the engineer's degree he traveled extensively through the
west, covering many thousand miles in the saddle. In
all his journeyings he has been on the lookout for rare
medical books and curios, thus laying the foundations
of a collection that will in a few years be of great
value to the medical profession. In June, 1889, he
founded the Brooklyn Throat Hospital, enlisting the
enthusiastic cooperation of many prominent citizens
and physicians. He has been secretary and treasurer
of the alumni association of the Long Island College
Hospital for several y;ars. Until recently he was a
member of the faculty of the Ne\i' York Post-Graduate
Medical School. He is a member of a large number of
medical and scientific associations and of the Hanover
Club. He is known as a careful and conscientious
physician, conservative as a surgeon and original in
his methods, and his practice includes a large consult-
ation business; he makes a specialty of the diseases of
the }iose, throat and ear, and designed a laryngologi-
cal cabinet that is said to be the most complete in
the world. On November 23, 1886, he married Miss
Jeanie C. Newton, daughter of the late Isaac S. New-
ton, of Norwich, N. Y. He has Dr. G. A. Walther
associated with him in his professional work.
In Charles M. Bellows, M. I)., Brooklyn has a
physician who has had a comprehensive experience in
all the branches of his profession. He is the eldest
son of Henry S. Bellows, United States commissioner, Charles M. Bellows, m. d.
^y,^ '.,;,,
.
f '
^^
■jj^H^v.
■
RESIDENCE OF GEORGE SMITH, M. D., GREENE AND REID AVENUES.
7o6
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
and a nephew of the late Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D. D., the Unitarian minister. Dr. Bellows was born
in Brooklyn in 1S62. He was graduated from the public schools and later from the Lockwood Academy.
The next year he was a student at Columbia College, from which he retired with honors. He entered the
medical college at Bellevue Hospital and received his diploma in 1883. He afterwards served as ambulance
surgeon at Bellevue. The succeeding four years he spent in the office of Dr. J. R. Wood and assisted him
in some of his most difficult operations. He also spent two years as surgeon in the Charity Hospital on
Blackwell's Island, and one year in the Maternity Hospital in New York. He devoted the same length of
time to lecturing and practising in the New York Dental College. He began practice in Brooklyn in 1886,
and shortly afterwards was appointed surgeon to the Kings County Elevated Railroad and the North Second
Street Railroad, both of which positions he now holds. He was also surgeon to the Nostrand avenue and
Lorim.er street railways prior to their purchase by the Brooklyn City Railroad. He is a member of the
Kings County Medical Society. He has had considerable experience in gynecology in the hospitals, and
in private practice he has treated upwards of two thousand cases. He has also performed successfully several
operations in hysterotomy. He is a 32° Mason and is a member of the Aurora Grata bodies, the Mystic
Shrine and the Brooklyn Club.
DENTAL SURGERY.
Modern methods are more complete than those of old, even though there be some lost arts. Dentistry
affords one of the examples. There was a time when the dentist knew no better implements than the little
mallet and wedges with which he clumsily forced the offending bicuspid or molar out of the troubled jaw,
frequently to the damage of the latter. The village barber, who also usurped the blood-letting function of
ancient surgery, and even the village carpenter, were once considered fully competent to act as dentists.
Even when science came to the rescue of the sufferer who was wont to bear, to the limit of endurance, the
evil of an aching tooth rather than risk the possible evil of a broken jaw, it was a long time before dentistry
became, as it is to-day, one of the learned professions. Dental surgery as practiced by recognized pro-
fessors of the art is a science to which is given the most careful and systematic study. Brooklyn dentists
include many who hold high rank among their brethren, and have contributed materially to the fame of
American dentists, who throughout the world are recognized as the most progressive, original and skillful
members of their profession.
Among the prominent dental surgeons is Dr. Orville E, Hill. He is a native of Eastern Pennsyl-
vania, but attended school at Olean Academy, Steuben County, N. Y. Entering the profession of den-
tistry in 1855, he began practising in the town of Owego, N. Y,, where he remained three years. The next
two years were spent in travel through the southern
states and visits to Texas and Indian Territory. He
came to Brooklyn in i860. He early saw the import-
ance of organization for the development of dentistry
and personally visited every dentist in the city in 1862,
inviting them to meet at his office to discuss the
feasibility of forming an association. The meeting was
held and a society organized " for the advancement
of its members in dental science, the encouragement
and maintenance of a high order of professional excel-
lence, the establishment of a dental infirmary and the
instruction of the public in dental hygiene." Since
1869 this organization has been known as the Brooklyn
Dental Society. In 1870 the Dental Infirmary was
established at the junction of Fulton and Washington
streets, it being the first establishment of its kind in
the country. Dr. Hill was the first president of the
new institution, and to his personal efforts at Albany is
due the appropriation of $1,500 per annum that the
legislature voted for its support. Another of his pro-
gressive moves was the establishment of a dental jour-
nal, in connection with nine of his brother dentists, in
1883. Previous to that there had been no journal
published directly in the interests of the profession ;
the new publication was called The Independent Practi-
tioner. Dr. Hill aided in perfecting and procuring the
passage of a law by the legislature, in 1868, for the
Dr. okville E. Hill.
HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES AND PHYSICIANS.
707
Dr. James H. Race.
purpose of incorporating dental societies and regula-
ting the practice of dentistry, which was the first law
enacted in this country upon that subject. By this law
the state is divided into eight districts for the licensing
of dentists — Brooklyn constituting the second district.
Dr. Hill has been president of the State Society, and of
the Second District Society several different times ; he
is the present incumbent of the latter office. He is a
member of the Crescent and the Hamilton clubs, and
the Amaranth Society, Brooklyn, and of the Odonto-
logical Society and the Twilight Club, in New York.
Dr. James H. Race was born in the town of
Greene, Chenango County, N. Y., in 1840. He attended
the district schools in the neighborhood of his home
for a time, and then took a course in Oxford Academy,
from which he was graduated in 1858. After teaching
school a short period he took a course of study, in
i860 and 1861, in the Pennsylvania College of Den-
tistry, of which he is a graduate. After giving si.x
months to travel he came to Brooklyn and established
himself in the practice of his profession at 366 Clinton
street, where he still has his office. He is identified
with the District, Brooklyn and State Dental associ-
ations. He is on the list of members of both the
Crescent and Brooklyn clubs, and is a director of the
latter. With his family he spends the summer months
in his camp, in Ontario, Canada. He has a retreat on Stony Lake, with roomy and comfortable buildings
for the entertainment of his Brooklyn friends. The residence of Dr. Race, on Clinton street, is a commo-
dious building of brick, three stories and basement in height, trimmed with brown stone, and presents a
generally pleasing exterior appearance. The entire first floor is devoted to the purposes of his profession.
The finishings and decorations of the interior are elaborate and beautiful, and the house is luxuriously
furnished. In the rear of the parlors are twin operating rooms, the walls and ceilings of which are finished
in lincrusta Walton, with designs displaying elegance of workmanship, intricacy of pattern, and variety of
tone. The work of fitting up this suite of rooms occupied about six months, and was executed under Dr.
Race's personal supervision, at the cost of many thousands of dollars.
Horatio G. Mirick, M. D. S., the veteran dentist of Clinton street, was born in Worcester, Mass., in
October, 1832. His education was obtained at Worcester Academy, under the tutelage of Dr. William
Newton, with whom he studied for three years after leaving the academy.
In 1852 he began to practice the profession of dentistry on Clinton street,
for one year acting as assistant to Dr. James Miller. In i860 he married,
and he has a family consisting of a son and daughter. He is treasurer of ,
the Dental Society of the State of New York ; he was one of the incorpora-
tors and the first president of the Brooklyn Dental Society ; he is a mem-
ber of the Odontological Society of New York, and of the Second District
Dental Society, of which he was at one time president, and of the Hamil-
ton Club. In 1892 he retired from active practice.
Albert H. Brockway, M. D. S., was born of New England and Quaker
stock in the town of Bridgewater, N. Y. From early youth he was fond
of study, and finding, as he grew up, the school privileges of his native
place insufficient, he left home when a lad of fifteen, walking a distance of
seventy miles, in mid-winter, to attend an excellent school at Summer
Hill, N. Y. He subsequently attended public schools in Syracuse and
Rochester and the Rochester Collegiate Institute, and finally was gradu-
ated, in 1854, from the Rutgers College Grammar School, in New Bruns-
wick, N. J. He at once entered upon the study of his profession in the
office of A. I). Newell, M. D., in New Brunswick, where he remained two years, afterwards continuing his
studies with Professor Amos Westcott, of Syracuse, and E. L. Swartwout, D. D. S., of Utica. In 1857 he
became associated in practice with Dr. Rush McGregor, of Rochester, and having remained with him two
years, he moved to Chittenango, N. Y., where he lived until he became a resident of Brooklyn, in 1862.
Horatio G. Mirick, M. D. S.
yoS
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Albert H. Brockway, M. D. S.
He is a member, and was three terms president of the Brooklyn Dental
Society ; he is also a member of the Second District Dental Society, the
New York Odontological Society, of which he is vice-president, the State
Dental Society, in which he held office several years as treasurer, and the
American Dental Association. He was a member of the Ninth Inter-
national Medical Congress. The various social organizations of which he
is a member are the O.xford and Rembrandt clubs, of Brooklyn, and the
Portland Club, of New York. He is also a member of the Brooklyn Library
and the Brooklyn Institute. He believes in croquet as a scientific pastime
and is an enthusiastic champion of the game ; he was one of the founders
and is now a member of the Brooklyn Croquet Association. His student
proclivities have rendered him familiar with a wide range of literature;
but especially that of a scientific and philosophic character has received
his attention. He is a member of the Second Unitarian Society.
WiLLi.Aji Jarvie, M. 1). S., was born
in the city of Manchester, England, in
1841, and attended school there until he
was fourteen years of age, when he came to this country with his parents.
They at once settled in Brooklyn, and, with the exception of something
less than four years. Dr. Jarvie has resided here ever since. When fifteen
years of age he commenced to study dentistry with Dr. A. A. Wheeler and
afterwards he spent three or four years under the tuition of Dr. W. W.
Codman, of Boston. In 1864 he returned to Brooklyn and commenced
the practice of his profession, and he succeeded in establishing a valuable
practice. In 18S3 he erected the premises which he occupies at Clinton
and Joralemon streets. He was one of the organizers of the Brooklyn
Dental Association and was afterwards its president. He was also one of
the organizers and president of the Second District Dental Association ;
president of the New York Odontological Society in 18S5-6 ; vice-presi-
dent of the New York State Dental Society two terms ; a member of the
board of censors for New York state
r .. 1 r 4.U Ti 11 William Jarvie, M. D. S.
Since 1876 ; trustee of the Brooklyn ■'
Homoeopathic Hospital ; vice-president of the Apollo Club, and a life
member of the Hamilton Club. In 1874 he received the degree of Master
of Dental Surgery.
Fr.ank Thorne Van Woert, M. D, S., vice-president of the New
York State Dental Society, was born in the town of Half Moon, Saratoga
County, N. Y., in 1855. He was educated at the Brooklyn public schools,
spent three years at Wright's Business College and was placed, for some
time, under the instruction of private tutors. At the age of fourteen he
was thrown upon his own resources and became an architect and mechani-
cal tlraughtsman, at Newark, N. J. This profession he abandoned within
five years for the purpose of studying dentistry with Dr. James Osmun, of
Newark, in whose office he remained for three years. He began practice
in Brooklyn in 1878, having previously acquired a general knowledge of
medicine under private tuition. His first office was in the Eastern Dis-
trict, to which section of the C'ty his professional labors have since been
confined. He is treasurer of the Second District Dental Society; for two
years he was secretary of the State Dental Society; he is a member of the Odontological Society of New
York, the Masonic fraternity, the Hanover and Aurora Grata clubs, the Amphion Singing Society and several
organizations connected with the Odd Fellows and Freemasons. He is married and has two children.
Frank T. Van Woert, M. D. S.
Board of Education Building, 1850 to 18
Under hill Mansion.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
DUCATION in Brooklyn has received a degree of attention wliolly
commensurate with the city's size and importance. A pul:)lic school
system was organized on a broad and comprehensive scale and has
been steadily expanded in harmony with the advanced educational
principles of the day. There arc now nearly one hundred public
schools, affording advantages to about one hundred thousand pupils ;
they are supported by the city at an annual expense, for salaries, sup-
plies, building and repairing, of over two and a half million dollars,
and the wise liberality of the educational authorities in their compen-
sation to teachers has attracted to the service of the city a corps of instructors unrivaled in excellence and
efficiency. The private schools of the city have a national reputation ; from the ranks of their teachers
and pupils, colleges have been furnished with professors and presidents ; they have kept in touch with
the times and occupy an unchallenged position among the finest collegiate institutions of the land.
The story of the origin and development of the schools of this city is thoroughly unique. It is per-
haps not generally known that on each recurrence of the Nation's natal day the school children of Brooklyn
especially, and, indeed, all citizens interested in public education, have a double anniversary to celebrate, for
it was on the fourth day of July in 1661 that the first free school ever founded on the American continent
was established in the locality over which Brooklyn City now extends. It is true, a semi-public school was
established in Flatbush as early as 1659. But it was a sort of a compromise between a public and a private
school, for while it provided for the instruction of all the children of the village, the old Dutch settlers would
not accept education in any form savoring of charity, and the parents paid from three to four guilders each for
the tuition of their children It is a fact most gratifying to a community so largely descended from the
7IO THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
New Netherland Dutch, that the American people are indebted to the sturdy sons of Holland for the estab-
lishment of free schools, a system which their descendants have done so much to extend and develop. The
first school tax levied in Breuckelen was for the sum of one hundred and fifty guilders, or not quite twenty
dollars of our money. This proving insufficient for the purpose. Governor Stuy vesant subsequently ordered
an appropriation of fifty guilders from the public treasury. Under such conditions it was that, one hundred
and fifteen years to a day before the Declaration of Independence went ringing through the land, the public
school idea first took shape on the shores of the new world. Ancient records fail to specify the exact
location of the first school house, but it is believed to have been organized in the " Octagon Church " edifice,
where, for a time at least, the school was held. This building stood near the present junction of Fulton
and Bridge streets, not one hundred yards from the present headquarters of the Board of Education. It
was doubtless in large measure due to the energetic initiative of the first pastor of the church, Henricus
Selyns, that the services of Carel de Beauvois (Carl Debevoise) were secured. He was a French Huguenot
but recently arrived from Holland, and a man of much learning and varied attainments. His salary in the
office of schoolmaster was the whole amount received for school taxes, in addition to a house, rent free.
This first school retains to this day the numerical designation which historical justice demands, and is
known as public school No. i of Brooklyn. A second school was established in 1662 in Bushwick, which
Peter Stuyvesant had recently erected into a burgh or township. This school was organized in the Bush-
wick Church, near the intersection of North Second street and Bushwick avenue. Boudwyn Manout, from
Crimpen-op-Lock, Holland, was chosen master of the new school. He was also appointed clerk of the
bailiwick ; and the union of these two offices was an arrangement which was maintained far down into the
present century. For the clerkship he received the value of four hundred guilders in Indian wampum,
while in payment for teaching he was given the munificent reward of " house-rent and fire-wood, free of
cost." His duties were as varied as those of his brother drudge in Breuckelen, and there was added to them
perhaps, that of castigating public offenders ; the whipping-post stood in front of the school house, between
it and the town house opposite. When, in 1855, the Brooklyn Board of Education assumed control of the
free schools of Bushwick village, this old district school house was still standing, and near by stood six
other houses whose foundations had been laid during that same period. This primitive village school No. i
of Bushwick then became No. 23 of the present public school system.
In 1663 Bedford village joined the educational procession with a third school, located at the junction
of the old Clove and Cripplebush roads, near what is now the corner of Bedford avenue and Fulton street
and there it continued to flourish until 1841, when the building was given over to the police for a headquarters.
The Bedford school was remarkable for the longevity of its teachers. John Vandevoort presided over it
for sixty years, teaching three generations of pupils ; he occupied one-half of the building as a living apart-
ment and was allowed to add to his income by selling groceries. Tuition was given exclusively in the
Dutch language until 1758. When the village schools were united into one common system in 1843, this
ancient institution became public school No. 3. There was another school founded in those Dutch times
which is perpetuated still, but the history of its origin is lost in the dim past. This was known as Bushwick
district school No. 2. In 1830 the building where it had been held for an indefinite period of years bore
evidence of great antiquity and all was thoroughly Hollandish in character. It continued to occupy this
venerable structure until 1047 ; and when Bushwick was consolidated with Brooklyn, it became public school
No. 24. When the English rule succeeded that of the Dutch in the New Netherlands, the old free school
system was abolished and for a century and a half these schools were supported solely by their patrons.
Not long before the outbreak of the Revolution another school was established on the north side of the
Wallabout Creek. There is evidence of its existence during the Revolution, but the exact date of its estab-
lishment cannot be ascertained. It was removed to Classon avenue in 1838 and subsequently became pub-
lic school No. 4. Soon after the Revolution another school was opened on a lane of the Bergen farm near
the present junction of Third avenue and Forty-fourth street. Documents show it to have existed in 1792.
In 1820 it removed to Martense lane and in 1843 it was made, in violation of chronological sequence,
public school No. 2. In all the ISrooklyn schools tuition was afforded in both the Dutch and English lan-
guages between the years of 1758 and 1800. The Dutch studies were not abandoned in the Bushwick and
Gowanus schools until some years after; the pupils of the Bushwick school pursued them until 1830
Each one of them was established in a Dutch neighborhood and almost solely under the influence of that
nationality, although record remains of the establishment of a school in half of a one-story house, occupied
by a farm laborer, about where the old Gowanus and Port roads met, in the neighborhood of what is now
Fourth avenue and Macomb street. At the corner of Red Hook and Cornell's lanes there was another
school established during the first quarter of the present century ; the earliest records show it in that loca-
tion prior to 1827 ; the site which it now occupies as public school No. 6 was not far distant on Degraw
street, near Court. In 1827 it had an attendance of sixty scholars. These schools continued to derive
their support from the tuiticm fees of their patrons for a long period of years, for although the state legis-
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
711
lature, in 1795, appropriated $50,000 a year for five years,
and, in 1805, established the common school fund, the
slow burghers of Brooklyn neglected to take advantage
of their privileges until 1813, when the trustees of dis-
trict school No. 1 were elected. The new system did
not meet with the sympathy or cooperation of the
thrifty but sluggish-minded Dutchmen, who for three
years bitterly opposed it and refused to accept even the
benefits for which they were taxed. The sum of $2,000
was levied upon district No. i — which in i8i6 included
the whole village — with which to establish a school, and
notice was given publicly by the trustees that on May
6 of that year it would be opened on the lower floor
of Kirk's printing office in Adams street, near Sands.
There was a stormy meeting of citizens on Mays, when
the board of trustees, Andrew Mercein, John Seaman
and Robert Snow, were unceremoniously deposed, and a
new board elected. The school was established on the
day appointed ; and the late Judge John Dikeman, as
its principal, inaugurated the present system of public
education. At that time there were 552 children at-
tending no school. The tuition was conducted on the
monitorial, or Lancaster plan, and in 1824 the school
had grown so that 200 children received free educa-
tion. Among the honored names connected with dis-
trict school No, I are : ex-Mayor John \V. Hunter, one
of its trustees years before the existence of a board of
education, and Ephraim J. VVhitlock. Other school dis-
tricts already mentioned fell into line in the march of ^°*''° °^ education headquarters, Livingston St. front.
mental advancement, and took advantage of the state law and its appropriations.
Seven district schools have been referred to, all of which were established prior to 1842 ; in that year
an eighth was organized in Bushwick as district school No. 3 of that village. This became subsequently
district school No. i, of Williamsburgh, and when it passed into the hands of the Brooklyn board it re-
ceived the number 16 in our present series. Of these eight schools mentioned, it will be seen that three,
namely; those now enumerated as 16, 23 and 24, were beyond the restricted limits of the city of Brooklyn
when, in 1843, the new board of education entered upon its labors. There were ten district schools within
the city limits in 1843 and over these ten the board then assumed control. Five of these, numbers i, 2, 3,
4 and 6, have been duly noticed. The present public school No. 5 was doubtless in existence prior to
1827, although we find no official record until 1839. No. 7 dates likewise from 1827. It was then known
as village school No. 2, for the village limits were very restricted and included besides this one only the
oldest school of all, dating from 1661. No. 8 was established in 1830 on its present site; and its progress
and development were due to the wise management of Cyrus P. Smith. Some time between 1830 and 1836,
No. 9 was organized on the ground which is now included in Prospect Park. It formerly drew a large con-
tingent from Flatbush, but the municipal orders have since been more strictly enforced. In the old school
which shared a one-story tenement with a humble farm laborer in Gowanus, we doubtless have the begin-
ning of what is now known as public school No. 10 ; documents place the date of its inception between
1825 and 1830.
These schools had been formed from time to time in accordance with the demands of the villagers and
the increase of the population ; each was governed by its own trustees; and was independent until the obvious
necessity of a system of unification was perceived and the present plan was devised and put in operation.
Accordingly, in 1843, the board of education united under its direction the ten schools which fell within
the jurisdiction of the city. As has been seen, the numerical designation of the schools accords only in two
or three instances with the actual chronological sequence of their establishment, and, at the time of organiza-
tion, three old-established schools were excluded from the system because of their not being within the city
limits.
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
The formation of the board of education was authorized by an act of the legislature in 1843. The
appointing power was vested in the common council, which was directed to choose annually two or more
citizens to represent each district, they, together with the Mayor and a county superintendent, to form the
712
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
"Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn," Three representatives were chosen from most of the
districts, so that when the first board of education held its initial meeting in the common council chamber
in that year, it consisted of twenty-eight members. There the meetings were held until it was thought
advisable to establish a headquarters, which was done in the building which a short time before had been
erected for public school No. i, at Concord and Adams streets. An amendment to the law creating the
board was passed in 1S50, changing its composition somewhat by increasing the number of members to
thirty-three, to be so selected that each should represent but one district. About this time the rapid in-
crease in population and necessary extension of schooling facilities, so added to the labors of the board,
that a need for larger and better accommodations became forcibly felt. A suitable place was found in the
Underbill mansion, a pretentious frame structure, which stood in Red Hook lane, near Fulton street. Into
this ancient building, which was at first leased and afterwards purchased, the members moved with all due
pride and pomp in 1S50. After serving as a headquarters for over half a century, this building was torn
down, in 1888, to make room for the present building occupied by the board. A second and more radical
change was effected in April, 1854, when the town of Bushwick and the city of Williamsburgh were con-
solidated with Brooklyn, which was fast encroaching upon their borders. It was another legislative move
which repealed the act of 1850 and again increased the board to forty-five members, thirteen of whom
were to be residents of the newly acquired territory. When the plan of consolidation was carried into
effect there were fourteen schools ni the twelve wards of the city. No limit to the membership of the
body was fi.xed until 1862, when the legislature again passed an amendment relative to the filling of vacan-
cies and recognized forty-five as the legal limit. It was in the same year also that the power to name the
persons whom he desired should make up the board, was given to the Mayor, the nominations to be made
in the month of February, 'lliis left the common council with only the power to confirm the appoint-
ments, failure to do so, or the Mayor neglecting to fill the vacancies, to result in the fifteen members whose
terms would have e.xpired holding over for another year. This alternative unexpectedly occurred that very
year, the aldermen withholding their approval of the names submitted. With a viev/ to remedying all
irregularities in the existing law, another bill was passed in 1868, which required the Mayor to designate
which members should hold terms of one, two and three years, respectively, and on the first of July following
the decision was made accord-
ingly. That same date is to-day
recognized as the period at which
the terms of the fifteen "short-
term" members expire. At the
present time the appointing power
rests with the Mayor alone, each
member being chosen for three
years and one-third of the num-
ber, unless reappointed, going out
of office every year. This was
brought about in 1888, when dur-
ing "a 'revision and combination
of all the laws affecting public
interests in Brooklyn," all the
school laws were massed and
amended according to the views
of the revisers, concerning what
was and what ought to be the law
relating to the schools and their
orderly arrangement.' " Under
these epitomized laws the public
school system of the present is
governed and conducted.
When the "fall term " of 1892
opened there were under the con-
trol of the board of education,
a training school, where recently
appointed teachers may study and
qualify by examination for the
higher grade certificates ; a high
school for each sex, whose pupils
Boys' High School, Marcv and Putnam Avenues.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
713
GiKLS' High School, Nostrand Avenuk and Halsev Street.
have graduated from grammar grades ; thirty-two grammar schools, three of which are colored ; sixteen
independent intermediate sxhools, supplying pupils for the grammar schools; two independent primary
schools, eight branch intermediate schools; twenty-four branch primary schools ; and two attendance
schools, where truants are probated for a term, the incorrigibles being sent to the Truant Home. This
total of eighty-seven schools is e.xclusive of the fifteen evening schools, which were established about
1850 for the working class, old and young, of both sexes; eleven industrial and asylum schools, which,
though in private charitable institutions, are controlled by the city board, and the Eastern District
library, which contains several hundred volumes of books collected from the libraries of the schools in
Williamsburgh and Bushwick, when they were consolidated with Brooklyn. All of these now share in the
general educational funds. During the month of September, 1892, the eighty-seven schools proper were
attended on an average by 85,860 scholars, who were taught and ruled by 2,186 teachers, heads of depart-
ments and principals, while 2,640 other little ones were refused admission, principally for lack of room
in the lower primary grades, despite the fact that new accommodations are being made with all the
speed that money can command. The same month showed a total registry of nearly 100,000, an increase
of 4,310 over that of the corresponding month of the preceding year. Following the consolidation of
Bushwick, Williamsburgh and Brooklyn, and the organization of the enlarged board in 1855, the late J. W.
Bulkley was called upon to fill the position of city superintendent, to which he was reelected regularly
for many succeeding years. In 1873 he was succeeded by the late Thomas W. Field, who had been a
member of the board of education since 1855. Mr. Bulkley, despite his years, remained in the service as
assistant superintendent until 1885 — four years after the death of his successor — when he resigned. Cyrus
P. Smith, who was for a quarter of a century a member of the board, was also its first president, continuing
in that office for twenty-one successive years. He resigned in 1868. Dr. J. S. Thorne, the second
to take the helm, retired voluntarily in 187 1 and his place was filled by Ephraim J. Whitlock, whose official
career, after eleven years of service, was terminated by death. His connection with the schools cov-
ered a period of twenty-three years, during which he accomplished much good and many reforms, and after
his death, which occurred in 1881, the public school teachers of the city erected a memorial tablet in the board
rooms bearing a suitable inscription and a bust of the deceased in marble relief. It may now be seen by
the visitor in the main hall of the new headquarters building. Daniel Maujer was elected to fill the vacancy ;
but he served less than six months and was succeeded by Tunis G. Bergen, who was chosen in January,
1882, and occupied the position until July 6, 1886. Robert Payne was the next president, and he gave way
to Joseph C. Hendrix, the present incumbent, in July, 1887. The position of superintendent, which
has by law received the euphonious addition "of public instruction," is now held by William H. Maxwell,
714
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Public School No. 12, Adelphi Street, ne.\r Myrtle Avenue.
who was elected in 1882 as the asso-
ciate of Superintendent Calvin Pat-
terson, now principal of the girls' high
school, who had defeated him for the
higher position the year before. With
the completion of the girls' high school
and the selection of Mr. Patterson as
its head, Mr. Maxwell assumed the du-
ties of his present position. With Mr.
Patterson he was actively engaged in
establishing rules governing the grad-
ing of certificates to teach, which have
done so much in elevating the standard
for admission to the teacher's profes-
sion in the schools of the city and to
improve their work and usefulness.
Other reforms and needed changes in
the methods and course of studies have
been carried out since his selection as
superintendent in 1887, and the five
years that have elapsed have noted a
steady advancement in the general
school work. The attendance depart-
ment and the administration of the
compulsory education law have during
all that time been under the care of the
superintendent. It was formerly under
separate supervision and the work almost exclusively was that of checking truants. Under the reorganiza-
tion, all those children who attended no school were sought, as well as truants, and the report of this branch
of the department shows that 1,103 children were placed in school in 1891. Among the important reforms
instituted and now in vogue, have been : the teaching to read by the word and phonetic methods ; the teach-
ing of script writing from the first day of a child's entrance to school, instead of the old method of printing;
language and composition, which had formerly been confined to two or three grades, made universal ; arith-
metic drills in simple examples, making individual work more definite ; and a revision of the course of
study. The prevailing promotion system was altered also ; the studies of the training school extended, the
regrading of the fifteen classes accomplished, and the setting of the present high standard to be attained by
would-be tutors. The free book system which had been adopted by the New York board of education
was adopted in this city and put in operation at the beginning of 1884, after which date text-books, slates,
etc., the cost of which had before made a heavy drain upon many a poor parent's shallow purse, were
furnished to every child at the expense of the city. For this purpose about $100,000 are expended annually.
The president and vice-president of the board of education and all the non office-holding members of the
body serve without salary. The clerical work of the body is transacted by a secretary and staff of clerks—
non-members — who are appointed for terms of from one to three years under salary. The supermtend-
ent is allowed four clerks, who receive a stipulated annual stipend, in addition to two associate super-
intendents, a director of music, sixteen music teachers, a supervisor of drawing, seven drawing teachers
and ten attendance agents. For the support of this great institution $1,805,363.28 were allowed in 1891 by
the board of estimate, to which the state tax added $379,041,07, making the total to be expended for the
year 1892, $2,184,404,35.
The board of education in 1S92 comprised the following members : Terms expiring in 1893 — Tunis G.
Bergen, Robert A. Black, James B. Bouck, James L. Drummond, William Ferris, Franklin W. Hooper,
William J. Lynch, Peter H. McNulty, Eben Miller, Daniel W. Northup, John K. Powell, Arthur S. Somers,
George Straub, Charles E. Teale, John W. Weber. Terms expiring in 1894— Alhert C. Aubery, Thomas
Cacciola, John J. Cashman, John Flynn, Harlan P. Halsey, William Harkness, ]^ Harrigan, Joseph C.
Hendrix, Arthur R. Jarrett, John McNamee, Edward Rowe, Anton Schimmel, C. Simis, T. McCants Stewart,
J. Edward Swanstrom. Terms expiring in 1895— John Y. Culyer, William M. Davis, Nelson J. Gates,
Samuel Goodstein, John Guilfoyle, A. Augustus Healy, Courtes T. Hubbs, Horatio C. King, Henry McLean,
Thomas F. Moran, Jasper Murphy, John R. Thompson, John D. Walsh, James Weir, Jr., John W. Kimball.
The officers are— president, Joseph C. Hendrix ; vice-president, John R. Thompson ; secretary, George
G. Brown ; assistant secretary, James H. TuUy; superintendent of public instruction, William H. Maxwell ;
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
715
associate superintendents of public instruction, Edward G. Ward and John H. Walsh ; superintendent of
buildings, James W. Naughton ; assistant superintendent of buildings, Frank A. Regan ; chief engineer,
William F. Cunningham. The clerks employed in the superintendent's office are : Emerson W. Keyes,
Charles W. Field, Josiah H. Pitts, Carlotta de Buck. The clerks in the secretary's office are : Parker P.
Simmons, E. F. Underbill, Ephrami J, Whitlock, Henry O. Dyer, P. J. McGurnn, John Monroe, Anthony
Wahle, Francis J. O'Malley, S. Ella Terrell, John P. Smith. The clerk to the superintendent of buildings
is Henry L. Romer. The attendance agents are : DeHart Bergen, Thomas S. Kearney, William Fischer,
William H. Birck, Charles H. Hart, Edward J. Lyman, Louis Mulhauser, B. F. Daly, James Bellew, Michael
Falvello. The director of music is Albert S. Caswell ; and Walter S. Goodnough is the supervisor of draw-
ing. There are twenty-three standing committees, namely : on finance, teachers, law, school house, heat-
ing and ventilating, libraries, supplies, pruning, evening schools, studies, school books, music, drawing,
attendance, sites and localities, health, rules and regulations, girls' high school, boys' high school, train-
ing school, free scholarships, eastern district library, credentials. Besides these there are local commit-
tees for the library, training school, high schools, evening schools, the industrial and asylum schools and
one for each of the separate schools.
Following is an enumeration of the Grammar, Intermediate and Primary schools, with the location and
the name of the principal of each : Girls' high school, Nostrand avenue, corner Halsey street, Calvin Pat-
terson. Boys' high school, Putnam, corner Marcy avenue, Alec. G. McAllister. Training school, Ryerson
street, near Myrtle avenue, J. Gallagher. No. i, Adams, corner Concord street, Charles R. Abbot. No. 2,
Forty-sixth street, near Third avenue, Jacob Sand. No. 3, Hancock street, near Bedford avenue, Benjamin
Y. Conklin. No. 4 (branch of No. 9), Berkeley place, near Fifth avenue, C. Agnes Reilly. No. 5, Duffield,
corner Johnson street, William T. Vlymen. No. 6, Warren, near Smith street, Alfred E. Ives, Jr. No. 7, York,
near Bridge street, William J. O'Leary. No. 8 (branch of No. i), Middagh, near Henry street, Agnes Y.
Humphrey. No. 9, Sterling place, corner Vanderbilt avenue, John Mickleborough. No. 10, Seventh avenue,
near Seventeenth street, John H. Haaren. No. 11, Washington, near Greene avenue, LeRoy F. Lewis. No.
12, Adelphi street, near Myrtle avenue, James Cruikshank. No. 13 (branch of No. 78), Degraw, near Hicks
street, Lyman A. Best. No. 14 (branch of No. 5), Navy, corner Concord street, Harriet M. Coffin. No. 15,
Third avenue, corner State street, Wm. L. Felter. No. 16, Wilson street, near Bedford avenue, Leonard
Dunkly. No. 17, Driggs avenue, corner North Fifth street, James Cusack. No. 18, Maujer, near Ewen
street, Edw. Bush. No. 19, South Second, corner Keap street, Walter B. Gunnison. No. 20, Union avenue,
near North Second street, Sarah S. Hunt. No. 21, McKibbin, near Ewen street, Kate E. McWilliams. No.
22, Java street, near Manhattan avenue, Lyman B. Hannaford. No. 23, Conselyea, near Humboldt street,
William L. Fitzgibbons. No. 24 (branch of No. 74), Wall, corner Beaver street, Joseph V. Witherbee. No.
25, Lafayette, near Throop avenue,
Charles E. Tuthill. No. 26, Gates, near
Ralph avenue, Jas. E. Ryan. No. 27,
Nelson, corner of Hicks street, Elmer
Poulson. No. 28 (branch of No. 35),
Herkimer street, near Ralph avenue,
Ella Folger. No. 29 (branch of No.
78), Columbia, corner Amity street,
Mary J. Merritt. No. 30, Wolcott, near
Van Brunt street, Thomas D. Murphy.
No. 31, Dupont street, near Manhattan
avenue. Marc F. Vallette. No. 32,
Hoyt, corner President street, Samuel
M. Sprole. No. 33, Heyward street,
near Broadway, James Priddy. No. 34,
Norman avenue, near Eckford street,
Frank R. Moore. No. 35, Decatur street,
corner Lewis avenue, Joseph S. Burns.
No. 36, Stagg street, near Bushwick ave-
nue, Edw. P. Crowell. No. 37, South
Fourth, near Berry street, George L.
A. Martin. No. 38, North Seventh, near
Berry street, Nathan Upham. No. 39,
Sixth avenue, corner Eighth street,
Channing Stebbins. No. 40, Fifteenth
street, near Fourth avenue, Frank L.
PUBLIC SCHOOL No. 35, LEWIS AVENUE AND DEC.iTOR STREET.
7,6 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Green. No. 41, Dean street, corner New York avenue, Mary B. Dennis. No. 42, St. Mark's, near Classon ave-
nue, Mrs. E. M. Warren. No. 43, Boerum, near Ewen street, William B. Ridenour. No. 44, Throop, corner
Putnam avenue, William A. Campbell. No. 45, Lafayette, near Classon avenue, William M. Jelliffe. No. 46
(branch of No. 78), Union, near Henry street, Mrs. Caledonia V. Dix. No. 47 (branch of No. 15), Schermer-
horn street, near Third avenue, Libbie J. Eginton. No. 48 (branch of No. 17), North First street, near Bedford
avenue, Eveline L. Petty, No. 49 (branch of No. 18), Maujer street, near Graham avenue, Andrew I Sherman.
No. 5° (branch of No. 19), South Fourth, near Havemeyer street, Elizabeth R. Duyckinck. No. 5 1 (branch of
No. 23), Meeker avenue, corner Humboldt street, Frances Higbie. No. 52 (branch of No. 74), EUery street,
near Broadway, Emily J. Black. No. 53 (branch of No, 74), Starr street, near Central avenue, Mrs. Alice E.
Field. No. 54 (branch of No. 45), Walworth street, near Myrtle avenue, Emily Henderson. No. 55 (branch
of No, 25), Stockton street, near Marcy avenue, Alice A, Douglas. No. 56 (branch of No 26), Bushwick ave-
nue, corner Madison street, Minerva H. Ellis, No. 57 (branch of No. 26), Reid avenue, corner Van Bureii
street, Elenore E. Elliott. No. 58 (branch of No. 32), Degraw, near Smith street, Sara J. Reid. No, 59 (branch
of No. 34), Leonard street, near Nassau avenue, Sarah A. Staley. No, 60 (branch of No. 10), Fourth avenue,
corner Twentieth street, Sarah A, Scott. No. 61 (branch of No. 76), Fulton street, corner New Jersey avenue,
Mrs. Charlotte F, Sheville. No. 62 (branch of No. 76), Bradford street, near Liberty avenue. Honor E. Quinn,
No. 63 (branch of No, 84), Hinsdale street, near Glenmore avenue; No, 64, Berriman street, near Belmont ave-
nue, Wm, Ten Broeck S. Imlay. No, 65, Richmond street, near Ridgewood avenue, .^lonzo A. Ashmun. No, 66
(branch of No. 84), Osborne street, near Sutter avenue, George W. French. No. 67 (colored), N. Elliott place,
near Park avenue, Charles A, Dorsey. No. 68 (colored) (branch of No, 67), Troy avenue, corner Dean street,
Georgiana F. Putnam. No. 69 (colored), Union avenue, near Stagg street, Mrs, C. T. Clow. No, 70, Patchen
avenue, corner Macon street, Geo, W, Edwards. No. 7 1 (branch of No. ^^), Heyward street, near Lee avenue,
(vacancy). No. 72 (branch of No. 64), New Lots road, near Barbey street, Ida L, Morrison, No, 73, McDougal
street, corner Rockaway avenue, C. Warren Hamilton. No. 74, Bushwick avenue, corner Kosciusko street,
Almon G. Merwin. No. 75, Evergreen avenue, corner Ralph street, William S, Mills. No, 76, Wyona, near
Fulton street, Frank B, Stevens, No. 77 (branch of No. 39), Second street, near Si.xth avenue, Mary E. Sloan.
No. 78, Pacific, near Court street, Seth T. Stewart. No. 79 (branch of No, 25), Kosciusko street, near
Throop avenue, Evangeline E, Whitney, No. 82 (branch of No. 2), Fourth avenue, corner Thirty-si.xth street,
Margaret E. Palmgreen. No, 83, Bergen street, corner Schenectady avenue, Frank K. Perkins. No. 84,
Glenmore, corner Stone avenue. Marcus A. Weed. Attendance schools. — No. i, 93 Wyckoff street, Denis
F, Tarpey. No, 2, Driggs avenue, corner South Third street, Richard B, McKenna. Eastern District library,
Driggs avenue, corner South Third street ; librarian, Arthur D. Stetson.
Joseph C. Hendrix, president of the board of education, and also president of the Kings County
Trust Company and congressman from the third district, is a man who has been so prominent in the city
and whose genius and e.xecutive talents have been manifested in connection with so many institutions, both
public and private, that it is difficult to classify him. He has served as president of the board of education
since 1887 and has been the originator and promoter of many improvements. But in view of his election to
congress, which, though at this writing is an untried field to him, undoubtedly will afford the opportunities
for his triumphs in the immediate future, his biographical sketch is placed with those of the other congress-
men in the chapter on " Political Life."
John R. Thompson, as vice-president of the board, has been a credit-
able and distinguished member. He was appointed to the board in 1886
by Mayor Daniel Whitney and reappointed by Mayor Chapin. He is chair-
man of the committee of public school No. 16 and also of the evening
school committee. He is a member of the attendance, girls' high school,
and training school committees. Mr. Thompson has been unremitting in
his efforts to further the success of the evening school system and has
devoted much of his time to this particular branch of educational work.
Mr. Thompson is a member of the firm of McLoughlin Brothers, toy-book
publishers. He was born in Brooklyn in the year 1847. He attended the
public schools until he was fifteen years old, when a situation was offered
him by the firm in which he is now interested. In 1863 he enlisted in the
13th N. Y. Heavy Artillery and fought until the close of the civil war. He
took part in a number of well-known engagements, including the famous
bombardment of Fort Fisher. On his return he reentered the employ of
McLoughlin Brothers, and advanced rapidly to his present position. In
John r, Thompson. politics Mr. Thompson is a Republican. He is a member of the Nineteenth
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
717
Ward Association and a delegate to the general committee. He has artistic tastes well cultivated and the
art work of his firm is under his supervision. His home is at 92 Morton street
Edward Rowe is the oldest member of the board. He was first appointed by Mayor Wood in 1S64
and for ten consecutive terms has held the office under every municipal administration. No one connected
with school affairs in this city has evinced a more devoted interest than Mr. Rowe in all that affects public
education. He has been chairman of the book committee for seventeen years; he is a member of the
finance committee and chairman of the committee of public school No. 9. Mr, Rowe was born in New York
city, on February 17, 1815. After a few years of study at private schools he obtained, when thirteen years
old, a clerkship in a mercantile establishment. Then he began to learn the trade of a hatter and for a
number of years kept a hat store in New York. His ne.xt venture was the importation of foreign merchan-
dise, a business that continued to absorb his attention until a few years ago. He held the presidency of
the New York Bank for twelve years, resigning in 1872. Mr. Rowe has represented the seventh ward
both in the board of supervisors and the board of aldermen ; and he was one of the presidential electors
sent by the third congressional district of New York to the national convention which nominated Samuel
J. Tilden for president. In 1885 President Cleveland appointed him as assistant appraiser of the port of
New York, and he held that position for five years. Mr. Rowe was married in 1834 and has seven sons and
two daughters living. He is a lover of art and has collected a number of valuable pictures in the course of
forty visits which he has made to Europe.
Nelson J. Gates is the next oldest member of the ' "1
board. He was born at Pleasant Mount, Wayne County, ' '
Pa., on April 9, 1831, was educated at the district schools
in his native county, and was graduated from the
Academy of Northern Pennsylvania at Bethany. At
the close of his academic course Mr. Gates devoted
himself to the profession of a teacher and, from 1858
until 1865, was the principal of the public school at
Flushing, L. I. He resigned to enter the employ of
Frederick A. Potts & Co., wholesale coal merchants in
New York, and was shortly admitted to partnership.
His business career has been one of unbroken success.
Mr. Gates came to live in Brooklyn in i866 and has
resided here uninterruptedly ever since. Although
never evincing any desire for political honors he has
been a zealous advocate of Republican principles. He
was appointed to the board of education by Mayor
Hunter in 1875 and has been a member of that body
until the present time, with the exception of four years
from 1881 until 1885. He served for many years as
chairman of the evening school committee, and in that
capacity bore a most conspicuous share in organizing
evening schools throughout the city. He aided materi-
allyin consolidating the academic classes in the gram-
mar school and in establishing the high schools for
girls and boys. When Mr. Hendrix was appointed
president of the board Mr. Gates succeeded him as chairman of the committee in charge of the girls' high
school, a position which he now holds. Mr. Gates has frequently been a delegate to the Republican general
committee of Kings County and has been sent to many of the state conventions of his party. He was a
presidential elector on the Harrison and Morton ticket in 1888. He is a trustee of the Kings County Trust
Company, a director of the Bedford Bank and of the Clinton Bank of New York. His home is at No. 1047
Dean street. He is a member of the Oxford and Union League clubs and of the Brooklyn Ethical Association.
Tunis G. Bergen, in point of priority, is the third member of the board. He is a son of Garret G.
Bergen and was born on May 17, 1847, in the old family homestead on Third avenue, between Thirty-
third and Thirty-fourth streets. He bears the name of his uncle, the distinguished Teunis G. Bergen,
now deceased. He received his primary education at public school No. 2, which was then largely main-
tained by the Bergen family ; he mastered French under the tuition of Principal Peter Rouget of public
school No. 10, and eventually passed through the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and Rutgers College.
From the latter institution he was graduated in 1867. In 1868 he received his degree from the law school of
Columbia College. He visited Germany where, for some time, he studied in the universities of Berlin and
Heidelberg, receiving from the latter, in 187 1, the degree of Doctor in Public Law. From Heidelberg he
Nelson J. Gates.
^j8 the eagle and BROOKLYN
went to Paris and pursued his profession in the law department of the university there. He attended also
lectures at the Sorbonne and at Oxford. Afterwards he went to Switzerland, and fortunately was induced,
soon after starting-, to withdraw from an expedition to climb Mont Blanc with a party, all of whom, with
cruides and porters, perished in the ascent. While in Europe he contributed many interesting articles to
American newspapers, some of which related to the Franco-Prussian war. In 1879 Mr. Bergen was the
chosen orator of the Rutgers College Alumni. It is a noticeable fact that some one bearing the name of
Bero-en has been connected with the Brooklyn board of education ever since the establishment of that
organization. Tunis G. Bergen was appointed to the board in March, 1876, and afterwards officiated as
chairman of various committees, and as a member of the studies, central grammar school, law, and
finance committees. In July, 1881, he unsuccessfully contested for the presidency of the board with Daniel
Maujer, but the next year he was elected president, and was reelected until July, 1S86. Mr. Bergen
received the Republican nomination in the fourth assembly district in 1876 ; on this occasion he received
the support of the independent Democrats, and ran 3,000 votes ahead of his ticket. He has declined
hitherto to accept other political nominations which have been offered him. Mr. Bergen is an enthusiastic
sportsman and clubman ; he is a member of the Hamilton and Brooklyn clubs, and of several New York
organizations, and various hunting and fishing clubs. He is now actively engaged in the practice of his
profession as counsel for various corporations, estates and transportation companies ; and he is identified
with the development of South American railways. Ten years ago Mr. Bergen married Miss McPhail,
daughter of Doctor McPhail, of Pierrepont street, and both he and Mrs. Bergen have been active and
influential in the city's social life. Their home is on Pierrepont street.
CoLOXEL John Y, Culver for the last quarter of a century has been
prominently identified with the interests of Brooklyn, He was born in the
city of New York fifty-two years ago. He had the advantages of a sub-
stantial education in some of the best schools of his native city, and early
developed a talent for the profession of civil engineering, for which he
received special training. His tastes led him to combine a study of horti-
culture and the artistic side of engineering. At the beginning of the
development of Central Park he joined the corps engaged on that work,
under the supervision of Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of the
park, where he acquired a familiarity with the details of the work which
he utilized with advantage in his subsequent career. At the beginning of
the war he accompanied Mr. Olmsted to Washington to assist in the
organization and administration of the work of the U, S, Sanitary Com-
mission. After serving a year in this capacity he entered the service of
the U. S. Engineer Department as an assistant to the engineer in charge
-,. ^j- ^j^g |j^_^^ ^j- (jgfgj.,(,g south of the Potomac, under the late General J. G.
Col. John Y. Culver. Barnard, and remained in that service till the close of the war. In the
spring of 1S65, Colonel Culyer was present in Ford's Theatre when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and
he retains a vivid recollection of that startling event. About this time he received an offer from the Hon.
A. H. Green, then commissioner of the New York parks, to return to that city as an engineer, which he
did. He left his work there to accept the position of assistant engineer in charge at Prospect Park, on the
special invitation of Hon. J. S. T. Stranahan. On the retirement of Mr. Olmsted, and of the gentleman who
had served as chief engineer, he was appointed chief engineer and superintendent, and under his super-
vision a large part of the unfinished work of the various parks and parkways was completed. He has been
for many years identified with the national guard, serving as engineer on the staff of Generals Jourdan and
Molineaux, and is now the ranking engineer in length of service in the military establishment of the state.
In the management of Prospect Park he was permitted by the commissioners to largely develop its various
public uses, then almost unique in park management, the approval of Mr. Stranahan and his long and inti-
mate association with that gentleman serving as inspiration to his labors. Following the radical changes
which the retirement of Mr. Stranahan caused. Col. Culyer resigned his position and engaged actively in
his professional work as a civil engineer and landscape architect, in which he has attained both success
and a reputation of a high order. He is the consulting engineer of the department of parks in this city, and
has designed the small parks in the seventeenth and eighteenth wards, and is otherwise intimately associ-
ated with other park work of Brooklyn. Mr. Culyer has been an active and influential member of the board
of education during the greater part of the time since 1872, and has been identified with its most useful work
serving as a member of its most important committees. He is a member of the committee on teachers,
studies, sites and localities, heating and ventilation, and drawing, and is chairman of the committee on
free scholarships, and of the boys' high school. He was a member of the first rapid transit commission in
this city, and he was engineer of the committee for the Atlantic avenue route. He is a member of the
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
719
department of pedagogy of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, and chairman of its committee
on art education, a member of the Oxford and Brooklyn clubs, and of the Union League Club of New York,
and of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has a well selected library and art collection.
J. Edward Swanstrom, who was appointed to
the board in 1888 and reappointed three years later.
is the son of the Rev. J. P. Swanstrom, who came to
the United States in company with John Ericcson,
the inventor of the " Monitor." Both these youno-
Swedes at that time, and for some years after, were
comparatively unknown, yet each attained eminence
in his adopted country. J. Edward Swanstrom was
born in Brooklyn on July 26, 1853. He became a
pupil of the public schools, and afterwards studied
at the University of the City of New York, from the
law school of which he was graduated in 1878, having
three years previously entered the office of the New
York legal firm of Miller, Feet & Opdyke. He grad-
uated with the highest honors attainable. He at
once began a successful private practice in New
York, and the reports of the state bar attest the ex-
tent and importance of the cases which have been
committed to his care. In the board of education
he has rendered good service, and is chairman of
the committee on rules and regulations ; also he is
one of the three members of the law committee.
Caesar Slmis was appointed a member of the
board of education by Mayor Whitney and reap-
pointed by Mayor Chapin ; he is a member of the
local committee of schools Nos. 41, 73, 67 and 68, and
a member of the committees on teachers and studies.
In politics he is a Democrat, and was associated with
the Jeffersonian movement in this city, both as a member and as an officer. He was born hi the city of
Hamburg, Germany, on April 13, 1849, and was brought to this country when two years of age. His parents
located in the sixteenth ward of this city, and were residents of that locality for many years. Mr. Simis
received the ordinary public and German school education offered in that
district, and is a graduate of the Law School of the University of the city
of New York. He was admitted to practice, but having an inclination for
a mercantile life, he entered into the hat trade, both wholesale and retail,
he has continued in this business ever since, and has the reputation of
being one of the largest retail hat merchants in the United States. Mr.
Simis is a thorough musician, and as a pianist he performed, in his younger
years, at many concerts in Williamsburgh.
He is married and resides at the corner — ~
of New York and St. Mark's avenues. He
has a son and a daughter.
Henry C. McLean, M. D., has been
engaged in the practice of medicine in
Brooklyn since he was twenty-three years
old and was one of the first persons to
hold an appointment as ambulance sur-
geon in this city. He was born at New-
burgh-on-the-Hudson, on June 26, 1850,
and after studying at private schools entered Manhattan College in New
York city, where he was graduated on his nineteenth birthday, in 1869.
Afterwards, in 1873, he was graduated at the University of the City of
New York. In July, 1873, Dr. McLean was appointed as ambulance sur-
geon in the Eastern District, but he resigned in the following October to
accept the position of resident physician in the Kings County Hospital ;
he remained there until 1875, when he entered upon general practice and
J. Edward Swanstrom.
Caesar Simis.
Hemry C. McLean, M. D,
720 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
he has since resided in the third and twenty-second wards, his present residence being at loi Sixth avenue.
He has been visiting physician at St. Mary's General Hospital, and St. Mary's Maternity and Lifants' Hos-
pital since 1SS7, and was for seventeen years an attending physician at the dispensary on Third avenue,
near State street. Dr. McLean was appointed as a member of the board of education by Mayor Whitney
in 1886 and was reappointed by Mayors Chapin and Boody. He is chairman of the committee on drawing,
and is a member of the committees on music, training school, and health. He is a member of the Columbian
Club and the Young Men's Democratic Club.
Major Peter H. McNulty, who holds the reins which control
the drygoods house of Wechsler & Abraham, is well known and re-
spected in commercial and financial circles, in private and public life
and among military men. During his seven years incumbency of a
responsible business position he has found time for outside affairs and
has taken an energetic part in the management of one department of
the city government. As a member of the board of education he has
worked faithfully and is proportionately valued. Major McNulty was
the first member of the board to suggest the advisability of the introduc-
tion of manual training into the schools. The system embodies a course
by which the hand is educated in sympathy with the eye ; and it pro-
vides for the teaching of wood carpentry and the trades where measur-
ing and calculations are required. Major McNulty is chairman of the
committee which has the matter in hand, and intends to have the system
introduced. Peter H. McNulty was born in Middagh street, in Brook-
lyn, on May 4, 1858. He attended public school No. 8, which then was
located in Middagh street. Afterward he studied at St. Francis' College
MAJOR PETER H. MCNULTY. ^_^^ compIctcd his cducation at St. John's College. In 1S71 he began
work as a bundle boy in the employ of Peake, Opdyke & Co., wholesale drygoods dealers, of New York.
From that position, through various changes of employers, he gradually won his way to the one he now fills.
He enlisted as a private in the Third Catling Battery, and was promoted to a lieutenancy ; then he was
appointed a captain on General Ward's staff. He was afterwards appointed and now is major and quarter-
master on General McLeer's brigade staff. He is a member of the Montauk and Columbian clubs, and of
the Emerald Association. The great coaching carnival which was held in Prospect Park, in the summer of
1891, was first proposed by Major McNulty, and at the various meetings held to perfect arrangements for
that event he always presided.
Charles E. Teale was appointed as a member of the board of education in the spring of 1878, by
Mayor Howell, and was reappointed by the same Mayor in 1S80. He was reappointed twice by Mayor
Seth Low, and received two reappointments from Mayor Chapin. As a member of the library committee
he was instrumental in the introduction of the free book system. He advocated the present system of pay-
ing the teachers' salaries by check instead of cash, while a member of the finance committee of the board.
He has been chairman of school No. 15 for many years, and during that time has looked favorably on the
establishment of tjie present system of buildings with isolated class rooms. He was active in the work
of instituting the training school. He is now chairman of the finance committee, member of the committees
on rules, text-books, boys' high school, and training school. Mr. Teale is the head of the tailoring firm of
Charles E. Teale & Co., on Fulton street. He has been an active and prominent member of the Hanson
Place M. E. Church since 1858, and is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association. He is a direc-
tor in the City Savings Bank and in the Brooklyn Choral Society. He is a member of the social committee
of the Oxford Club and one of the directors of the Brooklyn Sunday School Union. Mr. Teale was born
in Nottingham, England, on June i, 1843, and came to America with his parents when he was six years
old. For four years he attended public school No. 8, and at the age of twelve years he was studying in the
night at school No. 6, in Warren street. He began his working life as a messenger boy at the offices of the
Young Men's Christian Association.
Harlan P. Halsey is an unassuming, yet sturdily built man, of medium stature, conventional in dress
and business-like in manner. Few, seeing him on the street, would recognize him as the author of the
"Old Sleuth " series of detective stories ; but the fact is, that in the past twenty years he has written more
than 170,000 manuscript pages of novels and series. He is about 46 years of age, and gained his early
education at a private academy in New York city, where he was born. He had an inherent literary bent,
and when in his teens began to write for different magazines ; in the younger days of Frank Leslie's paper
he was employed on it. When but sixteen years of age he wrote a novel of 300 pages, which he had pub-
lished at his own expense. Some of his earliest stories and poetical compositions were published in the
Eagle nearly forty years ago. He wrote "Old Sleuth" for George Munro ; and after the story became
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
721
Harlan P. Halsey.
famous he took the title of the book for a nom de plume. Mr. Halsey is
not a politician, nor is he an enthusiastic party servant. He was appointed !
to the board of education in July, 1885, by Mayor Seth Low, and since
then has been twice reappointed under Democratic administrations. Politi-
cally, he is a Republican, and votes with that party. He is fond of all
athletic amusements, and as soon as his day's work is done he seeks recre-
ation in that direction. In his work he is as methodical as a carpenter at
his bench, writing a fixed amount and then stopping. He is a property-
owner in the city, an organizer of several financial projects, and a director
in the Hamilton Trust Company.
William Ferris was born in Ireland on January 21, 1S50, and came
to this country fifteen years later. His first employment was with D.
Appleton & Co., but seeing little opportunity for advancement he severed
his connection with that firm, and engaged with the New York Printing
Company, where he remained until 1872. In September of that year he
connected himself with J. J. Little & Co. His progress with this firm was
so rapid that he soon became superintendent, his present position. For a
long time Mr. Ferris lived in the thirteenth ward, but about four years ago he moved to the twenty-fifth
ward. He is a staunch Democrat, and is an active member and a trustee of the Bushwick Democratic
Club. In the board of education he is chairman of the printing committee,
and a member of the library, school-book, and supplies committees. Mr.
Ferris has displayed much ability in dealing with educational matters. He
is married, and with his wife and their five children occupies a pleasant
home at 783 Monroe street.
J.^MES B. BouCK was born in New York city on February 16, 1840. He
began study at the Utica French Academy, and after spending two years
there attended the Poughkeepsie Collegiate School for three years. At
the age of fifteen he was sent to the school presided over by Dr. Haccius
at Geneva, Switzerland. Returning to America, two years later, he entered
the junior class of Union College, at Schenectady, N. Y., from which insti-
tution he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the class
of 1859. In June of the same year he entered the Merchants' E.xchange
Bank in New York as a clerk, and in the following May he became con-
nected with Messrs. David Dows& Company, commission merchants, with
which firm, at the end of three years' service, he held the position of con-
fidential clerk. In December, 1864, he engaged in the same line of business
for himself. In 1869 he moved to Brooklyn, and being a Democrat in poli-
tics, at once joined the Seventh Ward Democratic Association, of which he is president. He is a member
of the Andrew Jackson Democratic Club, and has been a member of the Democratic general committee of
Kings County since 1880. In 1887 Mayor Whitney appointed him as a member of the board of education,
and three years later he was reappointed by Mayor Chapin. At present he is chairman of school No. 45,
chairman of the committee on teachers, member of the committee on school houses, and of the committee
on text-books. He is an active member of the Lincoln Club.
John Guilfoyle was born in New York city on November 3, 1854,
and studied in the public schools there. With his parents he settled in
Brooklyn in 1866, and then entered St. John's College, from which insti-
tution he was graduated in 1870. During the succeeding four years he
was apprenticed to the bricklaying trade, and in 1875 went into partnership
with his father, a builder. The latter died in 1879, and John Guilfoyle
continued the business. In 1887 he was appointed as superintendent of
construction of the new federal building by Secretary Daniel Manning, and
served until August, 1889, when he was succeeded by William Booth. In
1886 Mayor Whitney appointed him as a member of the board of education.
He received reappointment from Mayor Chapin, and is now chairman of
the committee on public school No, 7, and a member of the school house,
drawing, and manual training committees. Mr. Guilfoyle is a Democrat
and has been a member of the Democratic general committee for fourteen
years ; he is the secretary of the Fifth Ward Democratic Association.
He is the contractor for the mason work on the new 13th Regiment armory
at Sumner and Putnam avenues.
William Ferris.
John Guilfoyle.
7 2 2
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Daniel W. Northup was born in Troy, N. Y., on April 24, 1845. He received his primary education in
the puljiic schools of Brooklyn, going from them to the mathematical and classical academy of Prof.
McLaren at Sandy Hill, Washington County, N. Y. After his graduation in 1864, he returned to Brooklyn,
and pursued a course of higher studies before entering the Columbia College Law School. In 1867 he was
graduated as a Bachelor of Laws, and was admitted to the bar in the same year. Since that time he has
devoted himself to the practice of law in the courts of this state, leaving his office, at 26 Court street, only
to take a citizen's part in the direction of local affairs. Mr. Northup is a Republican in politics, having been
for some time a member of the executive committee of the Republican general committee. He was
appointed to the board by Mayor Whitney. He has been a member of many of the active committees of
the board, including the committee on law, of which he is chairman, and the committees on the girls' high
school, teachers, libraries, and rules. Mr. Northup traces his descent from Governor Bradford, of Connecticut,
when that state was a colony under British rule. His home is at No. 38 Halsey street. He is well known
among the Brooklyn clubs, being a member of the Brooklyn, Hamilton and the Union League. Mr. Northup
has a special taste for art, and has visited the principal galleries, both at home and abroad.
Samuel Goodstein was born in New York city on February 25, 1849.
His education was gained in the public schools there and in the New York
Free Academy. He then for two years worked as a clerk with the law
firm of Messrs. Collins & Hughes ; and afterward he was with a mercantile
house four years. Li 1869 he came to Brooklyn and established himself
in business as a loan broker, in which he continues. Having made Brook-
lyn his home, he at once identified himself with religious and charitable
institutions. When twenty-three years of age he was president of the
congregation of Temple Israel. He is now vice-president of the congre-
gation. He was president of the Hebrew Benefit Society of the Western
District, and for eleven consecutive years was vice-president of the Hebrew
Orphan Asylum. In 1866 Mayor Whitney appointed him as a member
of the board of education and three years later he was reappointed by
Mayor Chapin. He is chairman of schools Nos. 5 and 63, and their
branches, and a member of the school-house committee. Mr. Goodstein
is a member of the Constitution and Laurence clubs. He is a staunch
Democrat in politics, a member of the Twenty-second Ward Association,
and an e.K-member of the Democratic general committee.
James L. Drummond, who was appointed as a member of the board
by Mayor Chapin in 1888, and reappointed during Mr. Chapin's second
term in 1890, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 5, 1849, and came
to this country with his parents in 1853. He attended the public schools
in New York until he was fourteen years old, when he entered the service
of the late U. D. Ward, then a publisher and bookseller in New York ; on
February i, 1879, he was admitted to a partnership. The firm name be-
came Ward & Drummond, and that title has been preserved until the pres-
ent time. In November, 1875,. Mr. Drummond removed to Brooklyn and
soon became identified with educational affairs here. In the board of
education he is chairman of committees on public schools Nos. 22, 34
and 59, and of evening school No. 22, besides being a member of the music,
printing, and library committees. Mr. Drummond is an active member of
the masonic fraternity, a past master of Greenpoint Lodge, No. 403, F. and
.\. M,, past commander of St. Elmo Commandery, No. 57, Knights Tem-
plars ; he is a 32° mason, a noble of the Mystic Shrine and is district deputy
grand master for the second masonic district.
AViLLLAM J. Lynch, who was appointed as a member of the board of ■'""'^^ ^- °R™mond.
education in July, 1890, by Mayor Chapin, is an active and useful member and has served on some of the
most important committees. He was born in 1863 and was educated at the public schools in Brooklyn.
When seventeen years old he began to study law with the late Edward P, Wilder, and after graduation from
the Columbia College Law School, in 1884, he was admitted to the bar. He practiced until January i, 1892,
when John Cottier, who had been elected county clerk of Kings County, tendered him the appointment of
deputy clerk, which he accepted.
James Weir, Jr., is chairman of the committees on schools Nos. 10 and 40, chairman of the committee
on sites and localities and a member of the school-house committee. He was appointed to the board by
Mayor Whitney in 1886. He was born in England on October 17, 1843, and was brought to this country
Samuel Goodstein.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 723
before he was one year old. When a boy he went to public school No. 2, and later concluded his studies at
the Polytechnic Institute. Having inherited from his father a love for flowers and a predilection for their
cultivation as a business, he began as a florist in 1866. He is a well-known member of several social organi-
zations. He has been a mason for a number of years and is a member of Greenwood Lodge, No. 569, F. and
A. M. He is especially fond of yachting and fills the position of rear commodore of the Atlantic Yacht
Club. In politics Mr. Weir is a Democrat, and has held various offices both by election and appointment.
From 1879 until 1883 he was a member of the board of aldermen of Brooklyn ; and during the last year of
his service was honored with the position of chairman of the board. He has also served on the Democratic
general committee and has been several times a delegate to state conventions.
CouRTES T. HuBES was appointed as a member of the board by Mayor Chapin, in 1S91, to serve the
unexpired term of John Cottier. He is chairman of the committee on public school No. 75, and a member
of the printing, high school, and Eastern District library committees. Born on August 13, 1843, in New
York city, he attended the public schools there until 1857, when he removed to Williamsburgh and entered
public school No. 18, from which he was graduated in 1857. He then entered the Twentieth street public
school in New York, where he was graduated ; and he followed that up by a one year course in the College
of the City of New York. He is a member of the Seymour, the Bushwick Democratic, and the Twenty-
eighth Ward Business Men's Democratic clubs. He is the president of the Homestead Cooperative Build-
ing and Loan Association. In the masonic fraternity he is a member of the DeWitt Clinton Commandery,
Knights Templar, honorary member of the Baltic Lodge, No. 284, F. and A. M., Brooklyn, and a past
master of the Hope Lodge, No. 244, in New York city.
William M. Davis has been a druggist in the city for the past thirteen years. He was born in Troy,
N. Y., on June 13, 184S, and began his education at a public school in that city. He came to Brooklyn in
1876. During 1889 and 1890 he was president of the Kings County Pharmaceutical Society, and he now
holds a similar position in the Board of Pharmacy of Kings County. He is the first vice-president of the
College of Pharmacy of Brooklyn. In 1889 Mayor Chapin appointed him as a member of the board of
education, in which he is a member of the committees on sites and localities, and music, and chairman of
public school No. 25. Mr. Davis is now taking a course of lectures at the Long Island Medical College
with the view of obtaining a physician's diploma.
Eben Miller is a man who has for a number of years taken a prominent and active interest in
Brooklyn's educational institutions. He was appointed as a member of the board of education by Mayor
Howell, and was reappointed by Mayors Low, Whitney, and Chapin. He suggested and managed the
redistricting the city and consolidating of its schools, thereby reducing grades of schools and saving a
large amount of room and expense. For ten years he was a member of the committee on finance ; he is
now chairman of the committee of school No. 11, and chairman of the training school committee, besides being
a member of the studies, attendance, rules and regulations, and drawing committees. He was born in New
York in 1845, and is the head of the firm of Miller & Flynn, paper dealers, in that city.
John McNamee was appointed to the board of education in February, 18S0, by Mayor James Howell
and was continued in office by successive reappointments. For several years he has proved an efficient
chairman of the committee on heating and ventilation, and he is one of the standing committee on school
houses and sites. He is a native of Brooklyn, having been born in the second ward, and educated in the
public schools. His business is that of a contractor.
John W. Kimball was appointed in December, 1892, vice Henry M. Winter, deceased. Mr. Kimball
was born in Sandwich, N. H., in April, 1848. He acquired the rudiments of his education in Rochester,
N. H.; subsequently he studied at educational institutions in West Lebanon, N. H., and Poughkeepsie,
N. Y. He came to Brooklyn and established himself in the drug business in 1868. He is chairman of the
board of trustees of the Prospect Home Building and Loan Association and, in addition to his drug busi-
ness, represents several insurance companies. In politics he is a Democrat.
John K. Powell was born at Manetto Hill, Queens County, L. I., on April 23, 1848, being descended
from an old Quaker family. He was appointed as a member of the board of education by Mayor Whitney
and was reappointed by Mayor Chapin. He is chairman of public school No. 76, and a member of the
committee on heating and ventilating and on free scholarships. He is a dentist by profession and a Demo-
crat in politics. He is a member of the Glenmore Rod and Gun Club and of the Constitution Club.
John Flynn has been a member of the board of education since Mayor Schroeder app(jinted him in
1876. He is chairman of the committee of public school No. 42, and is a member of the committee on
teachers, evening schools, music, and the training school. He was born in Ireland on February i, 1839. He
has lived in Brooklyn since 1854.
Gen. Horatio C. King is another of those men who have gained eminence in several capacities, and
are not to be placed exclusively in any particular class. He has served on the board, and has done import-
ant work in committees since July i, 1884. His biography is printed in the chapter on Bench and Bar.
,24 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Franklin W. Hooper is one of the newer members of the board, having been appointed by Mayor
Boody in March, 1S92. He is best known as the director of the Broolclyn Listitute of Arts and Sciences,
and a biography of him is given in connection with the sketch of that institution in this chapter.
A. Augustus Healy is another member who was appointed by Mayor Boody in 1892. He is prominent
in poHtical circles, and a sketch of him is given in connection with the Brooklyn Democratic Club.
William H. Harkness, who is a wail-paper merchant, was appointed to the board in 1879. Robert A.
Black, M. D., is a practising physician, who was appointed in July, 1890. Arthur S. Somers, who was
appointed in 1892, is in the color manufacturing business. George Straub has served since 1889. He is
a builder. A. C. Aubery is a lawyer, whose service dates from 1888. Thomas CACcroLA,the Italian mem-
ber, was appointed by Mayor Chapin. He is a lawyer. John J. Cashman, appointed in March, 1892, is a
builder. John Harrigan, M. D., was appointed in 1883. Arthur R. Jarrett, M. D., was appointed in
1888. Anton Schimmel, appointed in 1891, is an agent. Thomas Moran was appointed in 1892. He is
a boatman. Jasper Murphy is a shipwright, who received appointment in 1890. John D. Walsh,
appointed in 1892, is a contractor. John W. \Veber was appointed in 1889, and is a brewer. T. McCants
Stewart, the only colored member, is a lawyer, and was appointed in April, 1891.
WiLLL\M H. Maxwell, the active head of our educational system, was elected associate superin-
tendent in October, 1882. He was chosen superintendent of public instruction in 1887 by the unanimous
vote of the board of education to fill the une.xpired term for which Calvin Patterson had been elected. In
July, 1888, he was reelected for the full term of three years, and a similar recognition of his worth occurred
a second time in 1891. The advantages which accrued to the public through Mr. Ma.xwell's tenure of this
particular post have been many. He has been the adviser of the board in the important revisions and
extensions of the course of study in the training school and the girls' and boys' high schools. Under his
direction object teaching has been introduced in the schools, and he is responsible for the adoption of a
system of drawing much less mechanical and more attractive than that which it superseded. Toward the
close of 1891, on Mr. Maxwell's recommendation, a most important step was taken to improve the work of
teaching by the adoption of a rule which provided that all teachers without satisfactory experience who pass
the preliminary examination must either render substitute service, satisfactory to the superintendent, for
one hundred days, or must take the regular course in the training school before receiving the lowest grade
of certificate. William H. Maxwell was born on March 5, 1852, at Stewartstown, County Tyrone, Ireland.
His father, who was the Rev. John Maxwell, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Brigh, prepared him for
college after he had received his elementary education at the local national school. In 1868 he was matri-
culated at Queen's College, Galway, one of the three colleges that constituted the Queen's University ;
immediately upon his entrance he won the prize which Sir Robert Peel had established for English composi-
tion, and by competitive examination he secured the first of five literary scholarships. His success was
remunerative enough to pay his entire collegiate expenses. He stood first in Latin and logic in the
tripartite examination for a Bachelor's degree at Dublin in competition with all the students of the colleges
at Belfast, Cork and Gahvay. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts with honors in ancient classics in
1872 and the degree of Master of Arts with similar honors in 1874. Immediately upon receiving the degree
of Bachelor of Arts he was appointed Professor of English literature and history in the Ladies' Collegiate
Institute at Belfast and became one of the sub-masters of the Royal Academic Institution; these are the two
largest schools of high school grade in Ireland. In 1874 he came to America. After spending some time in
Philadelphia he moved to New York and within a few months made his home in Brooklyn. Failing to obtain
employment as a teacher he engaged in journalism. He held situations in New York on the reportorial staffs
of the Evening Afail, Tribune, and Herald. He was assistant editor on a weekly paper known as the Metro-
politan, and for five years he was managing editor of the Brooklyn Times. While employed in this last capac-
ity he was asked to teach and deliver lectures in literature and history before the two evening high schools.
Mr. Maxwell is the author of three school text-books which have a very large circulation, but his most
important work, perhaps, has been in inciting the teachers under his immediate supervision to study not only
professional literature, but also general literature, science and art. In September, 1892, Mr. Maxwell was
elected president of the department of pedagogy of the Brooklyn Institute ; he was appointed a member
of the committee of ten for the organization of congresses in connection with the World's Fair in 1893 ; and
he is a member of the advisory board appointed by the state authorities on the exhibit of school work
from New York state.
Edward G. Ward, the senior associate superintendent of public instruction, is a native of the Eastern
District and is a descendant from an old colonial family which was prominent in Connecticut before the
Revolution; his great-grandfather served in the patriot army and his grandfather was a soldier of 1812.
During and since the Revolution the family has lived in New York and two of his brothers served in the
union army; but his father would not allow Edward to follow their example. He was born on June 18, 1843.
At the early age of five years he became a pupil at a public school in New York and subsequently attended
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
725
school in Hoboken, N. J. His genius for teaching was made evident when he was ten years old by his
gathering together the younger children of the neighborhood for instruction. When he was only twelve
years old he was teacher of the lowest grammar grade in Hoboken, becoming vice-principal at the a-e of
seventeen. Until he was twenty years old he studied and taught and at the same time took an active
interest in athletic sports, becoming a noted player of
base ball. Resigning his position as teacher he took
a partial course at the New Jersey State Normal r^ . -- - -^ -
School and then resumed teaching, continuing his
studies privately; he was the principal of Hoboken's
first evening school when he was twenty-one years
old. In the same year he married Miss Sarah McCain,
of Newburgh, N. Y. Although his salary at this time
was only $800 a year, he refused to give up teaching
to accept an offer of $1,500 a year for his services
as pitcher in the first professional base ball club.
In 1868 he became principal of grammar school No.
I, Bergen, N. J., which soon became No. 1 1 of Jersey
City. P"or several years he was an instructor in the
Jersey City Normal School, and in 1879 he was elected
as principal of No. 19, Brooklyn, solely on his record
as a teacher. He was elected to his present posi-
tion in 1885.
John H. Walsh, associate superintendent of
public instruction, was born in Brooklyn on March
17, 1853, and was educated in this city at St. James'
Cathedral school in Jay street and at St. Francis'
Academy; he took a full course at St. Francis Xavier's
College in New York and afterwards entered the
famous college at Georgetown, D. C. From this in-
stitution he was graduated in 1873 after taking the
complete arts course. He is a graduate of the Col-
umbia College Law School and successively occupied
positions on the faculties of Loyola College at Baltimore, Georgetown College and St. Francis' College in
this city. In September, 1885, he was elected principal of public school No. 27 ; he was elected associate
superintendent of public instruction in January, 1889, to fill out the unexpired term of Christopher Cun-
ningham, who had died a short time previously. He was reelected in July, 1891, for the usual three years term.
Emerson W. Keyes has been connected with the board of education since 1883 in the capacity of the
chief clerk in the office of the superintendent; he has lived in the city since 1871. He has held various
positions under the state government, principally in relation to the educational system. He was appointed
deputy state superintendent of public instruction in August, 1857, and was acting superintendent from
April, 1861, until the following February. He resigned in August, 1865, to accept the post of deputy state
superintendent of the banking department; this office he occupied until April, 1871, having in the meantime
transacted the duties of acting superintendent during the period between November, 1865, and February,
1866. He was the state bank examiner in 187 i, 1872, and 1873. Mr. Keyes was born at Jamestown, Chau-
tauqua County, N. Y., on June 30, 1828. He was graduated from the State Normal School in March, 1848;
he spent the greater part of the succeeding nine years as a school teacher, and ne.xt engaged for awhile in
mercantile life. In May, 1862, he was admitted to the bar in Albany County. In 1868 he presented to the
legislature a " Special Report on Savings Banks," which has since become a standard authority on the
subject. "Keyes' Court of Appeals Reports" (4 vols.) and his "History of the Savings Banks in the State
of New York " were both published in 187 1. The latter work was followed in 1876 and 1878 by the " History
of Savings Banks in the United States" (2 vols.); in 1879 he published in New York the "Code of Public
Instruction," and in 1892 he produced a work entitled " Principles of Civil Government."
William F. Cunningham, chief engineer of the board, made a record as an engineer during the
early days of the Fire Department. He was born in Brooklyn, October 29, 1841, and attended the public
schools until he was twelve years of age. During the succeeding three years he worked in the rope-
walk of Messrs. Tucker, Cooper, Carter & Co., in Graham street. He was then apprenticed to the
machinists in the establishment of James O. Morse & Gillis on John street, New York, where he remained
until 1859. The year i860 found him in the employ of the New Haven Machine Co., where he worked at
the manufacture of machinists' tools. In 1861 he entered the Brooklyn volunteer fire department and
Edward G. Ward.
726
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
engir
William F. Cunningham.
was appointed engineer of engine company No. 7- He was with that company until 1869, when he joined
the New York metropolitan fire department. One year later he returned to Brooklyn and was made
ineer of engine No. 6. When the paid fire department was organized he remodeled and fitted up the
first engine used under the new regime. In 1870 he was appointed as
inspector of boilers and served for three years. He was appointed as
chief engineer of the board of education on January 6, 1874, which is his
present position. Mr. Cunningham is the inventor and patentee of a
safety column for boilers ; a vacuum and safety valve ; a drinking fountain,
aiul an outside weather strip, all of which are in use in the various depart-
ments of the board. He is a Democrat and a staunch upholder of Demo-
cratic tenets, but is not over active in the political field.
l.\iiES \V. N.AUG HTON, the superintendent of buildings of the board
of education, was born in Ireland in the year 1840 and came to this coun-
try with his parents in 1848, becoming a resident of the fourth ward. He
was educated at public and private schools, including a small private school
presided over by Henry McCloskey, subsequently editor of the Eagle.
At the age of fourteen, on the death of his father, he left school and secured
a place in the drygoods house of Svveetzer & Bro., on Atlantic street. A
year later he started west, and shortly after his arrival in Milwaukee, Wis.,
he became an apprentice with J. & A. Douglass, architects and builders
of that city. Four years later, having completed his apprenticeship, he
entered the State University in Madison, Wis., where he continued his studies until 1861, when he returned
to Brooklyn, located again in the sixth ward and engaged in building, con-
tinuing his architectural studies at Cooper Institute after working hours.
In 187 1 Mr. Naughton was elected supervisor of the ward, and served in
the position during 1872-3. In 1874 he was appointed superintendent of
buildings for the city, in which position he served for two years. When
the office of superintendent of construction and repairs for the county
was created in 1877, he was appointed to the position. In 1879 he resigned
to take his present position, since which time he has made school archi-
tecture a special study ; more than two-thirds of all the public school
buildings in the city, numbering more than one hundred, have been con-
structed after his plans, and under his personal supervision. These have
been pronounced by competent judges to stand second to none in any city
in the country in design, appointments and workmanship; in the expendi-
ture of four million dollars for their construction less than eight thousand
dollars have been paid fur e.xtra work, caused by changes in plans or any
cause outside of the original contract prices. Mr. Naughton is married
and with his wife and three children resides at 334 Clinton street. He is
a Democrat in politics.
Albert S. Caswell, the director of music, is a native of New Jersey,
stands in the front rank of musical instructors and skilled performers in this city. In September, 1876, he
was appointed upon the musical staff of the board of education, and on
March 27, 1880, was promoted to the position of director. He at once
began to systematize the methods of instruction and established a regular
course of study. Shortly after his appointment, he made a special visit to
England and Scotland to investigate the systems in use there and received
special aid from the distinguished composer Dr. John HuUah. He revised
and improved the course and stimulated the work of the teachers and pupils
by frequent tests, including semi-annual examinations held under his super-
vision in all the schools. In November, 1882, a further important reform
was made by requiring critical public examinations of all applicants for
appointinent as music teachers, and no appointments have since been made
by the board save from the list of persons duly licensed by the director of
music. Mr. Caswell has been director of music and organist at St. Stephen's
Roman Catholic Church since May, i, 1887 ; and instructor of the vocal
class of the Young Men's Christian Association since October i, 1880. In
October, i88i,he organized the Brooklyn Cecilian, and the gratuitous instruc-
tion given its members has greatly promoted the interest in music and has
been a prime factor in encouraging its study generally throughout the city.
James \V. Naughton.
He is in the prime of life and
ALBiiKT S. Caswell.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
727
Walter S. Goodnough, the supervisor of drawing, is a native of Boston and received his early educa-
tion in the schools of that city. On completion of his public school course he was engaged for nearly three
years as a reporter on a trade paper which he left to prepare for general teaching. He was graduated from
the State Normal School at Bridgewater, Mass., after a two years' course. While he was a student there
the Massachusetts legislature passed the law requiring drawing as a regular study in all the public schools
of the state, and reciuiring the establishment of free evening art schools in every city of 10,000 inhabitants.
He gave to this subject all the attention his other work would permit, determining, near the close of his
course, to make it a specialty. After his graduation he went to Prof. Walter Smith, who had been ap-
pointed as state director of art education in Massachusetts and director of drawing in the Boston public
schools, and studied under his direction. On Prof. Smith's recommendation he w^as appointed as teacher of
drawing in the State Normal School in Salem, the largest school in Massachusetts. As soon as the State
Normal Art School was established in Boston he entered it as a student, continuing his work at Salem.
He obtained his certificate at the end of the first year's work ; and he was the first secretary (jf the Massa-
chusetts Art Teachers' Association. In September, 1874, he became supervisor of drawing in the public
schools of Columbus, Ohio, and in 1878 he was elected by the Columbus Art Association to organize
and act as director of the Columbus Art School, which position he held, in addition to that in the public
schools, until January, i8gi, when he took his present position in Brooklyn. He was one of the organizers
of the Art Department of the National Educational Association in 1883, and president of the department
in 1886. For a number of years he lectured on " Methods of Teaching Drawing " in many county insti-
tutes in Ohio and Pennsylvania, in the Summer School of Methods at Martha's Vineyard in 1888, and the
Interstate Summer School of Methods held in four states in 1890. One of his most important services was
as commissioner of the department of fine arts of the Ohio Centennial E.xposition in 1887-88.
Calvin Patterson for the past ten years has
been generally known as a most efficient worker in
our public school system. His father, Calvin Colton
Patterson, was one of the pioneer farmers of western
New York. Born and bred on a farm, but receiving
a liberal education in the Brockport Collegiate Insti-
tute and the University of Rochester, Mr. Patterson
was appointed, at the age of twenty-one, principal of
a large public grammar school in the city of Roches-
ter. He held this position one year, resigning to take
a position as associate principal in the Buffalo Classi-
cal School. Three years later he was made professor
of mathematics in the Buffalo State Normal School,
and assisted in its organization. In 1873 he was
invited to the principalship of the old Degraw street
school in this city. Under his management this
school in nine years more than doubled its numbers.
During this period he also successfully organized
the first evening high school. His work in these
positions so favorably impressed the board of edu-
cation that in 1882 he was elected as superintendent
of public instruction. Mr. Patterson's able adminis-
tration during the five years he held this position is
well known to the citizens of Brooklyn. In 1887 the
friends of higher education persuaded him to accept
the principalship of the Central School, offering as
one of the inducements the largest salary then paid
to any high school principal in the United States.
He at once planned to make an independent school of the boys' department, d.^ng much to persuade the
board of education to erect the magnificent building the school now occupies on Marcy avenue. Mr.
Patterson retains the principalship of the girls' high school on Nostrand avenue, which under h,s direction
has grown to be the largest in America. o u
Alec. G. McAllister, principal of the boys' high school, was born in Boston, October 17, 1849. He
prepared for college in the town of Melrose, Mass., and at the age of nineteen entered I uft s College, Med-
ford, where he was graduated in 1872. He was appointed principal of the high school at Chelmsford
Calvin Patterson.
Mass., in which capacity he served for three years
He then declined to accept an offer of the position of
principal of the high school at Nashua, N. H. ; and connected himself with the New York Illustrated Press.
728
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Weakness of the eyes compelled him to return to his former calling, and he accepted an appointment as
principal in Warwick High School, Orange County, N. Y., where he worked faithfully for eleven years. In
the winter of 1885 he associated himself with the Brooklyn high school as instructor in English. When
the girls took possession of the new building on Nostrand avenue, 1886, he was made acting principal of the
boys'' department, and in February, 1891, when the two schools were separated, he was appointed as princi-
pal of the bovs' high school.
Walter's. Gunnison, A. M., Ph. D., principal of school No. 19, E. D., was born in Abington, Mass., in
1852. When he was about five years old his father, a prominent Universalist minister, became American
consul at Halifax, N. S., and Mr. Gunnison's boyhood was spent in that old town until the time came for
sending him away to school. The school chosen was the Westbrook Seminary, Deering, Me., and he was
graduated with credit in 187 1. Then he entered the St. Lawrence University, Canton, N. Y., taking the
classical course, being graduated in 1875. He was immediately elected assistant professor of the Latin
language and literature, and in the following year
was elected to the full professorship, which he held
until his departure for Brooklyn, ten years later. As
vice-president of the University — he was elected to
that office in 1883 — he did -yeoman service in the
work of raising very much needed funds. Mean-
while, in addition to his other acquirements and occu-
pations, he read law in the office of .\tt(jrney-General
Leslie W. Russell, in Canton, and was admitted to the
bar in 1882. The work of teaching suited him best,
and in 1885 he was appointed to the principalship of
public school No. 19 in the Eastern District, left va-
cant by the advancement of E. G. Ward to the post
of associate superintendent. Coming to one of the
oldest grammar schools in the city where the memory
of a man so able and so well-beloved as the late
j^ Thomas ^V. Valentine was still fondly cherished, Mr.
I Gunnison adapted himself to his new surroundings
^ with such good will and cordial friendliness that in
a very short time it seemed as if he had always been
I there. His new associates found him firm but never
intolerant, and equally free from tiresome pedantry
and exasperating dogmatism. Never neglecting his
immediate charge, no educational movement fails to
attract him. He was chairman of the executive
committee of New York State Teachers' Association
in 1889, and to his energy and good management the
magnificent success of the three days' convention,
held in Brooklyn in 1890, was largely due. Very properly he was chosen president of the association
for the ensuing year. He is an active working member of the various organizations of teachers for pro-
fessional advancement that exist in this city of churches and schools. At present he is much interested
in the department of pedagogy of the Brooklyn Institute, and is chairman of the committee on the work
of the kindergarten. In all these various relations Mr. Gunnison's co-laborers have always found him
"pleasant to serve under " and " pleasant to serve with." When partisan fervor is demanded he is not back-
ward, but with its warmth he unites the liberal judgment of a sound and generous mind. He is a man of
fine presence and attractive manner. In all respects he is an admirable representative of the teaching
body, and one of whom his fellows are justly proud.
Leonard Dunkly, of public school No. 16, is the recognized Nestor of Brooklyn principals; and if the
measure of a teacher's success is the number of children he has developed into good citizens, then Mr.
Dunkly is one of the greatest modern educators. Two generations have felt the impulse of his work, and
hundreds of men and women in every department of life acknowledge their indebtedness to his personal in-
fluence, and continue to profit by his stores of learning. To rare insight into the true aims of education he
adds great organizing and administrative power. He is not dependent on old methods of instruction nor
forward in adopting new ones; yet his keen judgment, fine sense of practicability, and matchless skill in
adaptation have made his school famous. It is a well-known fact that, for more than twenty years, teachers
coming from every state in the Union to investigate the best metropolitan methods, have been directed to
the Wilson street school. Mr. Dunkly 's ability as a pedagogical leader has found frequent recognition;
Walter B. Gunnison.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 729
but large salaries, high honors, prominent positions in this and other cities have been offered to him in vain.
His life is devoted to the advancement of the model school which his genius has created.
William M. Jelliffe, pruicipal of school No. 45, was born in Darien, Conn., in 1835, and came to New
York about 1840. He was educated at the public schools there and entered the city college (then known as
the Free Academy) in 1849. In 1852 he began teaching, and after passing through the different grades in
day and evening schools, was vice-principal for seven years. He was appointed principal of No. 8, Brooklyn,
in 1863 and was transferred to No. 4, in Ryerson street, in 1870. In 1888, the grammar school wis removed
to the new school, No. 45, in Lafayette avenue. He received the degree of Doctor of Pedagogy from the
New York University. Dr. Jelliffe is perhaps most widely known through his elocutionary work on the
platform, in the evening high schools and in large private classes of teachers and other persons during the
past twenty-five years. School No. 45 ranks among the first in the city.
B. Y. CoNKLiN, principal of school No. 3, has been a teacher for forty years, and for thirty-seven years
he has been identified with the public schools in New York and Brooklyn. His earliest schooling was at a
private academy at Southold, L. I., where he was born in 1831. P^rom Southold he went to New York city,
and was graduated from the Saturday Normal School. He began teaching in Southold in 1852, and in 1855
became an instructor in public school No. 34, in New York city, remaining thirteen years, the last live of
which he served as vice-principal. In April, 1868, he was appointed principal of public school No. 5, in this
city. For ten years he served as the head of that school, and in October, 1878, he was appointed to his
present position. Mr. Conklin is the author of " Conklin's Grammar and Composition," a treatise in popu-
lar use in the schools. He is a man of scholarship and managerial tact, and is esteemed as a citizen as well
as in his profession.
James Cruikshank, LL.B., principal of school No. 12 and of the evening high school, was born at
Argyle, Washington County, N. Y., in 1831, and removed with his family to St. Lawrence County, when eight
years old. He was graduated from Union College, in the class of 185 i, and in 1853, in conjunction with
his brother, established a boarding school on Long Island. From 1855 until 1866 Dr. Cruikshank was chief
clerk in the department of public instruction, in Brooklyn, and during the same period served as director
and lecturer in the State Teachers' Institute. For eleven years, from 1856 to 1867, he edited the N'ew York
Teacher, the official organ of the Teachers' Association and of the department of public instruction. Dur-
ing the period between 1866 and 1872, when he occupied the position of associate superintendent of the
Brooklyn public schools. Dr. Cruikshank systematized work in the primary grammar grades, prepared
courses of study and held weekly meetings for the instruction of teachers. He resigned after his seventh
reappointment, and in June, 1875, was made principal of public school No. 12. He began his connection
with the evening high school in the same year, as lecturer on English literature and history. After
lecturing for two years he was appointed principal. Dr. Cruikshank has been president of the State
Teachers' Association, and was its corresponding secretary for seventeen years. He was one of the organ-
izers of the National Educational Association, founded in 1857, and at various times he has been its secre-
tary, treasurer, vice-president, a member of its board of councilors and president of the elementary
department.
"William L. Felter, principal of school No. 15, was born in Brooklyn, on December 5, 1862, and was
graduated at the head of his class, in school No. 34, in 1877. He was graduated at the College of the City
of New York, in 1883, being tenth iti a class of forty-five, and taking prizes in history, belles-lettres and
public debating. He has been teacher in grammar school No. 35, New York, and vice-principal of grammar
school No. 29. In June, 1887, he was appointed principal of intermediate school No. 63, in Brooklyn, and
two years later was promoted to his present position. For three years he has also had charge of the
department of rhetoric and English literature in evening high school No. i. Mr. Felter is vice-president of
the Brooklyn Principals' Association and financial secretary of the Brooklyn Teachers' Aid Association.
He also holds the chairmanship of the committee on manual training of the department of pedagogy,
Brooklyn Institute.
John MicKLEiiOROUGH, Ph. D., principal of school No. 9, was born in Canada, on November 5, 1840.
He attended the provincial Normal School, Toronto ; the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio,
where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts ; and the De Pauw University, at Greencastle, Ind.,
which conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy upon him. From October, 1865, until March, 1884, he
was connected with the public school system of Cincinnati, and was principal of the Cincinnati Normal
School for si.x years. He was vice-president of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, a member of the
publishing committee of the society's journal and curator of the Museum of Paleontology. His Brooklyn
career began with his election, in 1885, as a teacher in the central grammar school. In December of the
same year he was appointed as principal of public school No. 9, his present office. He is president of the
zoological department of the Brooklyn Institute.
Seth Thayer Stewart, principal of school No. 78, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1850, and was
73°
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
o-raduated at Yale in 1S73 ; he tdok first rank in mathematics and astronomy, and became known as an
excellent private tutor. After nine years service as an instructor of the higher mathematics elsewhere, he
succeeded Calvin Patterson as principal of school No. 13, Brooklyn, in May, 1882, and in March, 1889, he
was transferred to school No. 78. For about si.\ years he was principal of evening school No. 35. He has
organized much of the work of the Brooklyn Teachers' Association, having been its president and chair-
man of many of its important committees. In addition to his labors as a teacher he has written a number
of text-books and he was the first to begin in this country an organized movement for university extension.
This work he carried to a point at which the state of New York took it up, he having spent about $4,000
of his own money in the eft"ort. One of the immediate outgrcjwths of his labors was the Schoolmasters'
Club of New \'i)rk and vicinity. In the Teachers' Provident Association of the United States he holds
the position of a director. He is a trustee of the New York Avenue M. E. Church and secretary of the
board of trustees ; and he is a manager of the Brooklyn Church Society of the M. E. Church. He is a
member of the Union League Club of Pirooklyn. A\'hile teaching in New York he completed the law
course at Columbia College and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
WiLLi.AM S. Mills, principal of school No. 75, was born in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1850. He
attended the schools of Joliet, 111., both public and private, during the winter terms, until he was eighteen
years old, when he began teaching. In 1870 he entered the State Normal University of Illinois, where he
was graduated in 1875. ^^ ''^"•-^^ superintendent of schools in West Joliet from 1876 until 1880. Then he
moved to New York city and entered Columbia Collge and was graduated as Bachelor of Laws in 1882.
The next five years were spent in study, and in 1887 he became principal of school No. 49, Brooklyn. He
took charge of No. 75 on the completion of the new building in October, 1889.
ACADEMICAL, SPECIAL AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS.
In addition to the excellent public
school system, Brooklyn affords excep-
tional educational advantages through
her collegiate institutions and private
schools of the first rank. In the early
days there was doubtless now and
then some poor settler who was glad
to impart the remnants of his scanty
education to the youth of the place in
consideration of a meagre fee, but the
free schools supplied for the most part
the needs of the settlement during
the Dutch period, and it is not until
towards the end of the last century
that we find any record of a private
school being established. All trace
of such early schools has long since
passed away, and it is mainly through
the cjuaint advertising columns of the
old. newspapers that their names have
been preserved. An advertisement
appears in 1773 of the Flatbush gram-
mar school, then kept by one John
Cojjp, where Latin and Greek were
taught, and boarders had " the advan-
tage of being taught geography, in
the winter evenings, with many other
BRjOkL-sN Collegiate Instetuie for Young Ladies, 1S28,
iVow part oj the jMansion f/oiisf. Hicks Street.
useful particulars that frequently occur to the teacher." In Flatlands and New Lots there were school
houses as early as 1711, or earlier, but it does not appear whether these were private or free. The news-
paper slips, which belonged to (ieneral Johnson, and which were probably cut from the Long Island
Courier, Kiev to the district schools already mentioned in Bedford, Gowanus, and at Brooklyn Ferry;
the following Item also occurs: "A beautiful eminence to the east of Brooklyn Ferry will afford an
eligible situation for an academy." This was about the year i8oo,and reveals the fact that the matter
of an institution for more advanced education had already entered the minds of the good burghers. In
Ihomas Kirk's Long Island Star, in the year 1809, there is an advertisement of George Hamilton's
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
73'
>/
H
)
Greexleaf Female In'stitute, Piekrepon't an'd Clinton Streets.
This Buildiui^ is noiv a pari of I lie House of I he Broolilyn Cltib.
Select School, where " students are taught to make their own pens." In September of the same year
John Gibbons announces that he has established an academy for both sexes at the place lately occupied
by that of Hamilton, whose successor he appears to have been. He proposes to teach various branches "on
unerring principles; " and "Mrs. Gibbons will instruct little girls in Spelling, Reading, Sewing and Mark-
ing." It was furthermore the intention to institute an evening school for young men : " N. B,, Good Pronun-
ciation." Ten years later the number of such private schools had grown materially; John Mabon was pre-
ceptor in the Brooklyn Select Academy over which Joshua Sands, S. Sackett and S. T. Feltus presided as
trustees. There was an old stone building opposite the " Corporation House," on the east side of the road,
known as Benjamin Smith's Inn ; here on Christmas eve, i8io, the scholars of Piatt Kennedy were adver-
tised to hold an exhibition. It is only in such sporadic and chance references that we read of the predeces-
sors of the private and semi-private institutions existing to-day, until the year 1786 is reached, when was
founded Erasmus Hall Academy, which still exists. Although this excellent school, the only relic of the
earlier representatives of the class, is outside of the city limits, its history belongs appropriately to Brook-
lyn, for many of the city's most distinguished citizens received their education there, notably the first Mayor
of the city — the Hon. George Hall. Coming down to the present century, there are several schools which
flourished for a time and disappeared and whose names are well remembered by older residents.
Among these is the Brooklyn Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies, which was situated, says its first cata-
logue, " on Brooklyn Heights, opposite New York." The originators were the Rev. Isaac and Mr. J. Living-
ston Van Doren, who organized the school in 1828, having moved to this city from Newark, N. J. The
building at present occupied by the Mansion House on Hicks street was originally erected by these gentle-
men as the home for their school. In 1834 the school was sold to Mr. Charles W. Bazeley, who conducted
it for about ten years, after which it expired from natural causes. The Greenleaf Female Institute will be
readily recalled to memory by the older Brooklynites. It was one of the landmarks on the Heights, at the
corner of Clinton and Pierrepont streets, where its site is now occupied by the new house of the Brooklyn
Club. It was established in 1837 at 79 Willow street, from which place it was removed to its better known
location. During the later years of its history it had two principals— Alfred Greenleaf, its founder, and
Edward E. Bradbury, whom Mr. Greenleaf associated with himself. The civil war and its consequent dis-
turbances were the cause of this school being closed. Eames and Putnam's English and Classical School
was organized in 1831, and for several years was quite prosperous ; and the same is true of Professor N.
Cleveland's school for girls, which was conducted on Pierrepont street from about 1840 till 1850. The
Grecian Academy was formerly conducted by Professor Metcalf, on South Eighth street, WiUiamsburgh,
between the years 1850 and 1855, as a school for young ladies. On the annexation of that district to the
city of Brooklyn and the introduction of the public school system, the school began to decline and presently
ceased to exist. Other schools in later years are known of, though often the dates of their existence are
unascertainable. John Bryon for several years kept a school on Nassau street, near Washington. He was
732
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
a noted citizen, and a member of several civic societies in his day. He was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel
Seabury, formerly his assistant, who moved the school to an old meeting-house on the site of the present St.
Ann's building. Some years after Bryon's time Mr. B. W. Dwight conducted a school on Livingston street,
near Clinton. He was a well-known figure in Brooklyn streets, and his memory is not yet extinct. Julius
R. Pomery kept a school for boys at 65 Henry street, when he was succeeded by his brother Daniel, who
moved to Willow street. A. B. Morehouse had a very popular school for young ladies in Clinton street, near
Sackett, for many years. The Lawrence Listitute, kept by the Misses Lawrence, is also well remembered,
as is Prof. J. C. Doremus' school for boys.
Individual munificence has greatly enriched the city in regard to institutions of a collegiate character,
and there are flourishing to-day, within the city's limits, three endowed, non-money-making institutions of
learning where the higher education may be obtained at an expenditure which is not by any means com-
mensurate with the actual cost ; and in addition to these there are two technical or special course institu-
tions which are conducted on a similarly public-spirited plan. Added to them are the Young Men's and
Young Women's Christian Associations and similar organizations which, although primarily aiming at
religious development, are practically educational powers. It is owing to this admirable condition of edu-
cational possibilities that private, money-making schools are few in proportion to the population ; and the
high standard fixed by the philanthropic organizations has its effect on the private schools which do exist, of
impelling them to seek high levels in order to establish their worthiness and secure attention.
ERASMUS HALL ACADE5IY, FLATBUSH.
In 1786, Jacob Lefferts, Joris Martense, Peter Lefferts, Johannes E. Lott, Cornelius Vanderveer,
John Vanderbilt, William B. Gifford, Peter Cornell, Matthew Clarkson, Aquila Giles, John I. Vanderbilt ana
Garret Martense, of Flatbush, united to establish an academy. They budded, at a cost of $6,250, an edifice
one hundred feet by thirty-six, with a basement, two stories and a high attic. It was a great undertaking
for those times, for the war of the revolution had closed only three and a half years before and the country
was burdened with debt and was poor. The founders contributed from ten to one hundred pounds each
the pound of that day being equal to two and a half dollars. Aid was received from New York from such
notable men as Richard Varick, Brockholst Livingston, Alexander Hamilton, D. C. Verplanck, Waltei
Rutherford and Aaron Burr, each giving ten pounds ; William Duer, Peter Cornell, George Clinton and
John Jay, each giving fifteen pounds ; and Comfort Sands, who gave twenty pounds. A wing was added to
the structure in 1826-7, and the original building is still in use by the academy. It is one of the oldest in
the county. The Reformed Dutch Church gave a perpetual lease of the site, which included three acres,
in consideration of twenty-five pounds paid on December 29, 1797. As the building did not accommodate
all the pupils who came from a distance, the founders, who were the first trustees, received them in their
homes as boarders. The academy was incorporated by the regents of the University of New York on
Erasmus Hall Academy.
Educational institutions.
733
November 20, 1787. The first principal was the Rev. John H. Livingston, D. D., a learned man and famous
preacher, Vifho was teaching a class of theological students in the village, which class was the nucleus of
the theological seminary of the Reformed Church at New Brunswick, N. J. Among his successors were
Peter Wilson, professor of languages in Columbia College, 1792-1804 ; Joab G. Cooper, afterwards editor ot
Cooper's "Virgil," 1804-6, and again in 1817; Jonathan W. Kellogg, 1823-34, and the Rev. William H.
Campbell, D. U., who was president of Rutgers College, 1834-38. The average attendance of pupils dur-
ing the century has been about one hundred. At the beginning they came from many of the then e.visting
States, from the West Indies and Central and South /America. This patronage from rem(jte localities con-
tinued until about 1840. Many of the graduates became distinguished as professional men and others were
called to positions of large financial responsibility. At the present time the academy is in charge of R.
Arrowsmith, Ph. D., as principal ; he is assisted by an able corps of instructors. The trustees have decided
to erect a new and more commodious school building as soon as practicable.
THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE.
Local opportunity for an education higher than
that attainable by attendance at the public schools
was afforded to the girls and young women of Brook-
lyn several years before it was at the command of
the boys and young men. The Brooklyn Female
Academy was opened in May, 1845, and was so suc-
cessful that the lack of a similar institution for boys
became conspicuous. The matter of supplying this
evident need was earnestly discussed among several
large-minded citizens and action upon it was hastened
by what seemed to be a calamity. On the morning
of January i, 1853, the building of the Brooklyn
Female Academy was burned to the ground ; but by
that strange evolution of good out of evil, which has
been so frequently seen in the history of mankind,
there sprang from the ashes two of the noblest insti-
tutions that Brooklyn possesses — the Packer Insti-
tute and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic
Institute. Both have acquired national reputation,
and while the one is brilliantly represented in every
walk of life where the modern woman emulates the
sterner sex in intellectual activity, the other has
made noteworthy contributions to the ranks of men
who have achieved success in business or profes-
sional labors. The Brooklyn Collegiate and Poly-
technic Institute was projected as an academy and
David H. CocHR.-iN, Ph. D., LL. D.
tecnnic insruuie was uiuici-i.cu 0.3 d- ^^^^^'^-j
preparatory school for young men intending to complete the,r educat.on at the un,vers,t,es ; but m much
E than half a century .t has outgrown those limitations and under its new name of the Polytechn.c
IniiLteof Brooklyn h,s Uself a college vested with full collegiate privileges and powers and a mem-
ber of the grand educational system known as the University of the State of New York.
The prime movers in agitating the project of an academy for boys were James Hou Dr. . S 1 home,
Edward Tnthony Cyrus P. Sm.th and John H. Prentice, who had frequently conferred w.th oU.er gen-
IZln u'ZJ ^o ■.. On the morning after the burning of th. Female A-c^-ny Messrs. How and
Prentice decided to invite Luther B. Wyman and others to attend a meetmg at Mr. entice s house to
L ide the matt r and there the first board of trustees of the Brooklyn Colleg,at. and Poly echn.c Inst.
consiuer tne niaiLci a Parker to erect with her own means a new buiidmg for the
tute was chosen. Ihe generous offer "//^'^^•r;;^';'^;"^^ power of the stockholders in that institution
Female Academy, n. memory of her husband plaednn the p^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^_^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^
l::::::Z T.::::^:t::X^^^ ::::^i:::or to d> rt ..L .. some otl.r s,mdar enterprise,
builclmgana tne saie 01 luc id 1 u^nnl-lvn Colleeiate and Polytechnic Institute was perma-
and the result -^ --'-^ f^^^^/tel er o F:male Icademy, tur/ed over to John T. Martin, the
nently organized, John H. Prentice, as treasure Academv stock The permanent organization
treasurer of the new institute the par va ue of - ^'.^ffi^^^t h^Jen were Isaac' H. Frothingham, presi-
of the board was effected on J-^'-y -' 'S54, and ^^jl^'^^ ^^^^^ ,^^,^,^^, ,f ,,e board were : J.
r^ sSa^r ;rrS;.i H-B^cSm!! K^.an, James How, S. B. Chittenden, D. S. Landon.
, THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
H. R. Worthington, G. Harrington, R. S. Tucker, C. S. Baylis, J. L. Putnam and G. S. Rowland. On Janu
ary ■'I, 1854, a plot'of ground, with one hundred and three feet frontage on Livingston street, and extend-
in o- back one hundred and fifty feet, was purchased for $16,000, and the erection of a building, from de-
sio^ns by F. Peterson, was begun ; the edifice was completed and opened for inspection on September 6,
1855, and the institute was opened about the middle of the month with a full corps of professors and
teachers. John H. Raymond, D. D., LL. D., who had formerly been professor of rhetoric at Rochester
University, was president of the faculty. During that first decade of the e.xistence of the institution, when
each formative influence put an indelible stamp upon its character, the genius of Dr. Raymond was most
strongly felt ; and he it was who laid the firm foundations upon which his successors have erected the fair
superstructure of to-day. He surrendered his post in 1864 to accept the presidency of Vassar College,
where again his peculiar skill as an organizer made the cause of education his debtor. Soon after the
death of Dr. Raymond, which occurred in the summer of 1878, there was spread upon the records of the
Polytechnic's board of trustees a memorial minute, of which room is here afforded for a brief e.xcerpt only :
"Methodical, judicious, painstaking, he gave to the early years of the institute, the years of its unfolding
and growth, the best powers of a gifted mind and the faithfullabors of an earnest life. * * * A genial
companion, a true and sincere friend, an educated, high minded, pure and patriotic Christian gentleman, a
trusted educator of the mind and heart in all that was generous and ennobling, he won our warmest love
and our sincerest esteem ; and his memory and services wUl ever be held by one and all of his associates in
the work of the institute, and in the wider spheres of his usefulness, in grateful and cherished remem-
brance."
When the institute was opened there was a mortgage debt of $20,000, a floating debt of between $7,000
and !g8,ooo, and large obligations assumed in the appointment of the faculty and corps of instructors. For
some time after the resignation of Dr. Raymond the presidency was vacant, but the office was eventually
filled by the selection of David Henry Cochran, A. M., Ph. D., LL. D., who for ten years had been principal
of the State Normal School at Albany. The institute Was reorganized, and important modifications were
made in its arrangements and classifications, in its methods of teaching and of making examinations. The
executive ability of President Cochran and his known scholarship gave to the institute both intellectual
and material strength, and coincident with the growth of its reputation in the educational world it was in
receipt of an income more than equal to its current expenses ; the entire indebtedness was paid off by 1866,
and the permanent property of the institute in buildings, fixtures and apparatus had been increased in
value more than $100,000 before 1880. In 1869 the high character of the work done by the institute had
become so apparent to the Regents of the University, that they gave it authority to confer the collegiate
degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts. The institute has on several occasions outgrown its
accommodations, and has been obliged to deny admission to numbers of applicants. In 1880 an east wing
was added to the building at an expense of $12,000 ; a new laboratory was built in 1882 at a cost of $8,000 ;
a west wing was added to the main building at a cost of $12,000 in 1885 ; and in 18S7 an observatory was
built at a cost of $3,500. All these improvements were made without any assistance being asked or re-
ceived from outside persons, and the institute having been organized as a private stock company was
thereby precluded from receiving any endowments or bequests. The institute had not been designed to
make money for its promoters and supporters, and its continual growth led them to consider the matter of
putting it upon a new basis. Accordingly steps were taken to surrender the charter under which the insti-
tute existed and to obtain a charter for an institution of more comprehensive scope and with larger powers.
It was desired moreover to reorganize upon a basis that would allow the corporation to acquire and receive
property by purchase, gift or bequeathal, and permit it to continue the academic department in connection
with other departments which it was designed to establish. On August 8, 1889, the regents of the Uni-
versity of the State of New York granted a provisional charter to the present corporation, the Polytechnic
Institute of Brooklyn ; and soon afterwards the buildings and equipment of the Brooklyn Collegiate and
Polytechnic Institute were transferred to the new corporation ; the old corporation had in the meantime
surrendered its charter and had been dissolved. Having acquired the endowment required by law, the new
corporation received an absolute charter in January, 1890, conferring upon it "All the rights, powers and
dignities given by law and the ordinances of the regents to a college, including membership in the Univer-
sity of the State of New York." The charter is dated January 30, 1890, and bears the signature of the
late George William Curtis as chancellor. The success of the negotiations which ended in securing this
charter was in the largest measure due to the well-directed efforts of Henry Sanger Snow, LL. M., an
alumnus of the Polytechnic Institute and one of its trustees. By drafting and procuring the enactment
of necessary legislation he provided the method both for the dissolution of the old corporation and for
the granting of a liberal charter to the new institution.
With an amplified curriculum and more than eight hundred students enrolled, while hundreds more
were knocking for admittance, the institute needed more room and steps were taken by the new corporation
5 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
to obtain it. Land adjoining the site of the original building was purchased and ground was broken
for a new building in May, 1S90 ; the work of construction was completed by September, 1891, and
the building was occupied at the opening of the regular term in that month. The new building is
occupied by the higher departments of the institute, and the academical department occupies the
orio-inal building. The acquisition of the land which made possible the erection of this new building
was due to the energetic action of the president of the faculty. After the committee of the corpora-
tion had reported that the purchase of the lot was impracticable and that the offer to secure it had
been abandoned, President Cochran, who had continued in close correspondence with the owner since the
time of its purchase from the corporation of the Dutch Church, seized the opportunity offered by the
dissensions of the parties who had planned to sell it to the city and purchased it. William Augustus White,
to whose untiring energy and devotion to the interests of the institute the new buildings are mainly due,
upon learning the facts promptly furnished the financial backing to fulfill the conditions of purchase and
at less than one-half the price at which it had been held during the negotiations of the committee to
secure it. Mr. ^\'hitc's father, A. M. White, was also intimately associated with this movement, and his
generous donations, amounting to $75,000 or $So,ooo, bore a very important part in bringing the matter to a
successful issue. The new building, which is from designs by W. B. Tubby, cost $350,000, is Roman-
esque in style and is constructed of brick with stone trimmings ; it is five stories in height with a fine base-
ment, and there is a large tower which extends to a considerable height above the roof. The frontage on
Livingston street is one hundred and seventeen feet, and the depth of the building is one hundred feet.
The structure is thoroughly fireproof, is lighted by electricity and is furnished with electric elevators.
The interior arrangements are perfect, including a gymnasium in the basement, which is fitted up with the
best appliances for physical culture. There are commodious lecture rooms, comfortable study rooms, care-
fully arranged laboratories, and every adjunct needed to secure the perfection of scientific research and
experiment. One of the features of the institution is the " Spicer Library " which occupies an apartment
in the new building thirty-two feet by thirty-four in its dimensions. The library was given by Captain
Elihu Spicer as a memorial to his son Uriah D. Spicer, a member of the class of 1S73 ; it has been selected
with great care, and is designed for general reference and study in all departments of the institute work.
The cost of the library was upwards of $35,000. The removal of the institute to its new quarters and the
occupancy by the academic department of the entire building previously used by the school made possible
the reorganization and extension of the courses of study in the preparatory school. The students of the
different courses are assigned to suits of rooms specially fitted for their work. The commercial course,
based upon a good elementary English education, gives a thorough knowledge of book-keeping, accounts
and commercial law, and with its optional studies of French, German, Spanish or stenography offers oppor-
tunities unequaled probably by those of any other commercial school, while the students from its prepara-
tory, classical, liberal and scientic courses take the highest rank in the institute or in other colleges which
they may enter. The large and fully equipped laboratories with which the institute is provided enable it
to add to its courses of study and research in the departments of chemistry and physics, and civil and
electrical engineering, so that, with the aid of the Spicer library, the institute now offers advantages unsur-
passed by those of the best technical schools. The present faculty of the institute numbers sixteen, and the
total number of persons included in the corps of professors and instructors is fifty-three. The annual tuition
income amounts to $120,000. As the institute is free to accept endowments and bequests, it is expected
that offers of endowments and scholarships which were made to the former corporation but could not be
accepted, will now be renewed. During the academic year of 1890-91 a scholarship was established by gift
in memory of Henry Ginnel De Witt, which provides perpetually for the tuition of one pupil. The insti-
tute now belongs in fact, as it has always belonged in the spirit of its management, to the whole commu-
nity and to the world, and its future cannot fail to be even more progressive than its past has been.
David Hf.xry Cochran, Ph. D., LL. D., has been active in educational work for nearly half a
century, and during the greater part of that time has had national reputation as a man in whom are united
the rarest gifts of the teacher with wide learning and general culture, a union of qualities rendered
especially effective by his admirable executive ability. His presidency of the Polytechnic began in 1864.
He was born at Springville, New York, July 5, 1828. His father was of Scotch descent ; on his mother's
side he came of a Huguenot family that found refuge in this country during the seventeenth century.
Early in life he devehjped a habit of close observation and manifested a decided love for natural science.
Pecuniary reverses obliged him at the age of fifteen to resort to teaching and in this way he carried him-
self through Hamilton College. His proficiency in chemistry enabled him at the same time to fill the
position of lecturer on that subject at the Clinton Liberal Listitute where, upon his graduation in 1850, he
became professor. In the following year he was chosen principal of the Fredonia Academy, and in 1854
became professor of chemistry and natural science at the State Normal School at Albany. Soon afterwards
although he was the youngest member of the faculty he became principal, and while principal he filled the
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
737
cha.r o the theory and pract.ce of teaching. In 1863 the Board of Regents conferred upon him the title
of Doctor of Philosophy and he was one of the first two persons to receive that degree in tl.is country I
,s a trustee of HamUton Co lege and ,s prominently connected with the Young Men's Christian Association
and the Home or Aged Men For more than twenty years he has been a member of the Century Club
m New York and m Brooklyn he >s .dentified with the Ham.lton Club, of which he ,s a charter member
In 185 1 he married Miss Harriet Striker Rawson and their family consists of four children.
THE PACKER INSTITUTE.
When in this country the question of the higher education of women was considered somewhat too
problematical for conclusive argument, before Vassar was thought of and when other institutions for female
advancement, which have since become famous, were merely embryoaic in their existence, the Brooklyn
Female Academy-the precursor of the Packer Collegiate Institute-was incorporated and placed upon a
working basis. 1 he influences e.xerted upon a great community through the inception and subsequent
expansion of such an enterprise cannot be esti-
mated at too high a valuation. For nearly fifty
years it has afforded a broad mental training to
those who have been destined to mould the thought
and shape the character of future generations ;
and the full realization of what it is accomplish-
ing in the present can come only to the observation
of posterity. During a considerable period the
Packer Institute stood a unique creation among the
educational institutions of the country. Its curri-
culum was more catholic and comprehensive than
that of any other school for the training of girls, and
although it has since surrendered its original pre-
eminence it remains in the front rank of those
secondary institutions whose energies are necessarily
restricted by local limitations. In such repute is the
educational system, in vogue at the Packer held by
other collegiate institutions for women, that they
admit its graduates to their junior and sophomore
classes without the requirement of a preliminary
examination. The Packer never has contributed to
the aggrandizement of individual or corporate in-
terests ; its ends and aims are purely philanthropic.
Its earnings, amounting annually to $80,000, or
thereabouts, are all expended in the interests of the
students. The rates of tuition are much lower
than could be afforded by an unendowed school, and
large contributions are made each year for the bene-
fit of individual students who may be unable to meet the regular charges. There are thirty free scholar-
ships, which are awarded to students in the higher grades of the school, and their assignment is determined
as much by individual merit as individual necessity. So great has been the assistance rendered by the
institute to deserving students that the amount of financial aid contributed to worthy recipients by the
board of trustees since 1875 has aggregated $120,000. The corps of teachers numbers fifty-three,
forty-six of whom are women, and many of them hold diplomas of colleges. At the opening of the in-
stitution there were three hundred students on the list. The number in recent years has ranged from
seven hundred and fifty to eight hundred.
The origin of the Packer Collegiate Institute is found in the Brooklyn Female Academy, which was
incorporated in 1844. The presidency of this institution was accepted by Dr. Alonzo Crittenden, who had
earned some measure of distinction, prior to his advent in Brooklyn, as head of the Albany Female Academy.
Among those who lent their active countenance to his work in this city was William S. Packer, who had
deeply interested himself in promoting legislation in New York State favorable to the higher education of
women and who, in the capacity of trustee, had been prominently associated with Dr. Crittenden at Albany-
The Brooklyn Female Academy was opened on May 5, 1846, and experienced prosperity until the dawning
of the year 1853, when its building, which stood on Joralemon street, between Clinton and Court, was burned
to the ground. Mr. Packer had recently died, leaving a large property in the hands of his wife, who shared
her husband's interest in educational affairs. Before the embers of the fire had ceased smoking she addressed
Truman J. Backus, LL. D.
73S
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
a note to the trustees, sayincj she had reason to believe her husband had entertained the purpose of devot-
in.-- a sum of money for the establishment of an institution for the education of youth and it was her desire,
as'his representative to carry out his wishes. The misfortune overtaking the academy afforded her an
opportunity which she was ready to meet, and she informally offered the sum of $65,000 for the erection of
a buildincrforthe instruction of her own sex. Her generous proposition was gratefully accepted. The
corporation of the old academy was dissolved and its stock was applied to the founding of a high school
for boys, which now exists as the Polytechnic Institute. Through this munificent gift of Mrs. Packer's,
which at'that time was the largest ever made to advance the higher education of women, a new charter,
granted on March 19, 1853, was secured for the girls' academy, under the corporate title of The Packer
Collegiate Institute. The tribute paid to the memory of her husband in giving his name to the new
institution was suitably acknowledged by Mrs. Packer ; and at the instance of the trustees the charter of
incorporation embodied a clause which gave her the right to nominate those whom she might desire to
The P.\cker Institute.
occupy the vacancies which from time to time occurred in the board of trustees. Her selections, made in
accordance with this request, were honored until her death in 1892, and the range of her personal acquaint-
ance rendered it comparatively easy for her to secure the active cooperation of those whose services in
such a capacity proved invaluable. Among those who were especially active in the reorganization and
conduct of the institute were : A. A. Low, Hon. Joshua M. Van Cott, A, B. Baylis and Henry P. Morgan.
The institute was formally opened on the evening of November 9, 1854. The dedicatory address was de-
livered by the Rev. Francis Vinton, D.I). From that time until the founding of Vassar College, in 1865,
the Packer Collegiate Institute stood without a peer among those educational institutions which were
exculsively devoted to women. L'ntil the opening of Vassar, and other institutions of a like nature, large
numbers of students from all parts of the country came to Brooklyn to secure the instruction given
at the Packer Institute. But the establishment of well-endowed institutions for women caused a decrease
in the number of non-resident students at the Packer. The trustees had occasion to consider the policy
to be pursued in the future, and as early as 1S70 it came to be the accepted view of the board that the in-
stitution should be conducted as a school designed especially for the young women of Brooklyn. With
this end in view certain modifications, which still exist, were made in its constitution.
The buildings of the institute occupy a plot which extends from Joralemon to Livingston street,
between Clinton and Court streets. The lot is two hundred feet square. The main building, which is
gothic in style, was one of the last wor'.;s of Minard Lefevre, the well-known architect, and still ranks,
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 739
architecturally, among the best structures devoted to educational purposes in this country. Land adjoining
the institute was purchased in 1886, and on the plot of ground a building one hundred feet by twenty-eight
was erected. It contains the laboratories for the departments of chemistry, physics, biology and natural
history. The whole of the first floor is furnished as a gymnasium. Both the old and the new buildings are
heated and ventilated by the best modern methods. In material appointments, as well as in educational
methods, the institute strives to hold an advanced position. Its property is estimated to be wofth half a
million dollars. Dr. Alonzo Crittenden, the first president of the institute, remained at its head until his
death, in 1883. Dr. Darwin G. Eaton had been his colleague during the last thirty-two years of his adminis-
tration. These two gentlemen were of one mind in the service they rendered the institute, and Dr. Eaton
shared many of the responsibilities of the principal. At Dr. Crittenden's death Dr. Eaton was elected as
president, but ill health compelled him to decline the well-deserved and honorable appointment. Dr.
Truman J. Backus was invited to accept the position ; he had been familiar with recent movements looking
towards the more systematic and advanced teaching of women, having been the professor of English
language and literature at Vassar College since the opening of that institution. He promptly accepted the
call to Brooklyn, and since 1883 has been the director of the institute. Since his administration began
there has been a steady increase in the equipment and resources of the institute, and a conservative but
constant strengthening of the course of instruction and an enlargement of the teaching force. The
alumnae of the institution are organized under the title of the Associated Alumnte of Packer Collegiate
Institute. They have for years maintained post-graduate classes for study, and have used their organization
for the promotion of the welfare of their alma mater. They have in several instances contributed to its
equipment. They furnished the new gymnasium, and have made large appropriations from their funds for
the furnishing of the lecture room of natural history. The presidents of the corporation have held office in
the following order : John Skillman, George Wood, Seth Low (grandfather of ex-Mayor Low), G. G. Van
Wagenen and A. A. Low, who has been president since 1858.
Dr. Truman Jay Backus, the president of the Packer Institute, was born in Lock, Cayuga County,
New York, in 1842. His father was for a long time a prominent resident of New York city, and was
secretary of the Baptist Home Missionary Society. Dr. Backus obtained his education at the public schools
of New York and at the University of Rochester, being graduated with the class of 1864. He spent the next
three years in post-graduate studies at Rochester and in New York, taking his master's degree from the
university in course. In 1867 he was called to occupy the chair of English language and literature at
Vassar College, where he remained until called to the presidency of the Packer Institute in 1883. In 1882
he received the degree of LL. D., from Rochester University. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa
Society, of the Brooklyn Institute, president of the Brooklyn Library and of the advisory board of the
Young Women's Christian Association. He is also a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Society, the Century
Club of New York, and the Hamilton Club of this city. He married a daughter of L. Harris Hitchcock, a
prominent member of the New York constitutional convention. Mrs. Backus is an alumna of Vassar and
a trustee of that college ; she is also a member of the Brooklyn Woman's Club. They have four children,
one of whom is now at Amherst College and another is an auditor of the Standard Oil Co. Dr. Backus is
the author of many learned papers, of a work entitled " Great English Authors," and is the reviser of Shaw's
work on English literature. He has been well-known as a lecturer.
THE ADELPHI ACADEMY.
This institution grew out of a private school which was incorporated in 1869 by the aid of money con-
tributed by twenty-one public-spirited citizens. The academy was organized with a board of trustees
consisting of twenty-four members. During the first two years of its existence no less than fifty thousand
dollars were contributed by private gift for its maintenance. In 1873 further donations, coming for the
most part from the trustees themselves, enabled them to add a wing to the west end of the building, and in
1880, with funds derived from the same source, a second wing was built at the eastern end. But it was not
until 1886 that the academy trustees began to develop plans for an important extension of its curriculum,
and the institution began to assume its present dimensions. In that year, Charles Pratt, the president of the
board of trustees, provided means for the erection of a new building, adequate to the needs of the
academy's larger purposes, by the gift of $160,000. This gift was made subject to certain wise conditions
concerning the disposal of future revenues, etc., which were cheerfully acceded to and which, in part, have
since been carried out. At the beginning of the school year in September, 1888, the new building was
practically completed and ready for occupancy. This new edifice is situated at the rear of the old build-
ings and occupies the corner of St. James' place and Clifton place. The entire end of that block on St.
James' place, extending from Lafayette avenue to Clifton place, is covered by the buildings of the Adelphi
Academy. 'The plot measures one hundred and fifty by two hundred feet. Between the two main struc-
tures is the chapel, with a seating capacity of about one thousand. The thirty and more rooms in the old
740
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
The Adei.phi Academy.
buildino^s are devoted to the use of the preparatory department and to the first four grades of the academie.
In the new building, which is known as the collegiate, are the chemical and physical laboratories, the library
and a spacious study room for the use of the students of the collegiate department ; on the top floor are the
large and beautifully lighted art rooms. In the basement is a gymnasium, divided into three large rooms
and fitted with bath and dressing rooms. Adjoining this is the engine room with an engine and dynamo.
The hygienic and sanitary appointments throughout are excellent, this having been one of the principal
aims of the founder. With the beauty and dignity of the exterior of this splendid structure every citizen
of Brooklyn is familiar; it constitutes one of the most prominent architectural ornaments of that part of
the city. The buildings are valued at $500,000.
In connection with the work of the academy there is a kindergarten, and pupils may thus receive
instruction from the earliest rudiments up to the highest branches of the collegiate studies under the
auspices of the same institution. There are three departments : the preparatory, the academic and the
collegiate. 'I'he first is open to pupils between the ages of six and ten, and the course is completed in three
years. In the academic department the ages range from nine to sixteen, and in a five-year course all the
essential branches of a good English education, Latin, French and German, physiology, English history and
literature are taught. The collegiate department is divided into three courses, and diplomas are awarded
to such students as shall complete any one of them. The classical course is intended to meet the require-
ments for entrance examinations at college, and to this three years are devoted. The literary and scientific
courses embrace a curriculum of four years each and the latter includes the laboratory practice for which
superb facilities have been provided. Art education began in the Adelphi Academy almost from its incep-
tion, it being among the first, if not the first, of the schools of this country to acknowledge the influence
of art as complementary to youthful culture. Accepting as a basis for this work the higher traditions of
art, it at once took means to ]nit this fact into practice by making drawing part of the regular school work,
and adding to the drawing of simple forms (which were executed in the class rooms) special facilities for
study from the antique and life. The elementary work was at first under the instruction of Louis Grube,
followed by Prof. F. T. L. Boyle, who introduced drawing from the cast, which was done in a small room in
the attic of what is now the academic building. He also introduced the idea of special art pupils, carrying
the work forward until the resignation of Prof. Sprague, when he also resigned. With the appointment of
Dr. Taylor, art received a strong impetus in the school proper. Under the direction of the present professor
the work was so arranged that every student from the time of entrance until the fourth academic year was
compelled to draw ; after which it became optional until the year of graduation. Larger accommodations
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 741
were furnished for the advanced and special students, who rapidly increased in numbers, and the study of
portraiture and full length drawing from life were added. In connection with the regular course of
instruction, lectures and loan exhibitions of pictures were held in the chapel. The regular yearly exhibit of
students' work inaugurated a system of annual competition, at which prizes were awarded for the best
drawings from the cast and from life, as well as in painting from life. With this extension of accommo-
dations came a corresponding growth in the character and quality of the work, until at present the work
of the department is second to that of no school in the country, and the equal of what might be called
the legitimate art schools, such as those of the National Academy of Design or the Students' Art League.
It can claim as its former pupils a number of young men and women who are well known in the art world
and are constant exhibitors at all the leading exhibitions of the country as well as at the Paris Salon.
The rooms at present devoted to the study of art in the new, or collegiate building, have possibly no
superior in the world. They consist of a suite of five, which are specially arranged for drawing from the
cast, from life, still life and modeling. These rooms are for advanced and special pupils, the more
elementary school work being accomplished in the class rooms under the direction of a special teacher.
Special students can enter at any time without adopting the regular special course, which extends through
a period of four years, including, beside drawing and painting from life, artistic anatomy, perspective, com-
position and the history of art. These subjects are all taught by special teachers by whom the students
are examined; and after passing a satisfactory examination they receive a diploma graduating them from
the department and certifying to the extent and quality of their attainments.
On December 18, 1889, the academic building was seriously damaged by fire, but the injury was speedily
remedied. The internal equipment of the academy is excellent ; it has been furnished at an expense of
$31,500, while its apparatus and library are valued respectively at $9,800 and $4,000. The presidents of
the board of trustees and their terms of service have been : the Rev. William I. Budington, D.D., 1869-
74 ; Charles Pratt, 1874-91; and Charles M. Pratt, 1891-93. In the following list appear the names and
terms of service of those who have held the principalship of the academy from the date of its incor-
poration in 1869 until the present day: John Lockwood, August, 1869-May, 1870; Homer B. Sprague,
1870-75 ; Stephen G. Taylor, 1875-1883 ; Albert C. Perkins, 1883-1892 ; John S. Crombie, 1892.
John S. Crombie was a successful teacher in the west before he came to Brooklyn to take charge of
the Adelphi ; and in Minneapolis, where he was principal of the high school, and had done a good deal to
build up the cause of education, his departure caused general regret. Under his administration the high
school became one of the best in the country. He was born in Pontiac, Mich., in 1854, and is a graduate of
the University of Michigan. His first position was that of principal of the high school in Coldwater, which
he resigned in one year to become superintendent of education in the same city. Three years later he
accepted a similar position in Big Rapids, where he did splendid work for four years. His next call was to
Minneapolis, and his record there for seven years was such as to secure for him the warm recommendation
of many prominent educators when it was proposed to place him in his present position. He took charge
of the academy in September, 1892. He is a married man, and has two children.
THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE.
This is so distinctively and peculiarly an institution of Brooklyn, managed by representative Brook-
lynites and for the general people, that it is a subject of great local interest and pride. Its work is some-
what in the line of the "university extension " movement, now so popular ; the avowed purposes stated in
its charter being " the establishment and maintenance of museums and libraries of art and science, the
encouragement of the study of the arts and sciences and their application to the practical wants of man ;
the advancement of knowledge in science and art, and in general to provide the means for popular instruc-
tion and enjoyment through its collections, libraries and lectures." Further provisions of the charter are
that its museums and libraries shall be open and free to the schools of the city, both public and private,
and to the general public on such terms of admission as shall be approved by the mayor and park commis-
sioner. The institution is endowed, and its membership privileges, affording opportunities for special
scientific courses, are fixed at very low, nominal figures. Its trustees are citizens prominent in public and
social life. Its history is one of slow and sound growth, with a continual widening of the scope.
The institution had its birth in the summer of 1823, when several gentlemen, chief among whom was
Augustus Graham, met at Stevenson's tavern for the purpose of establishing, for the apprentices of Brook-
lyn, a free library. They adopted a constitution and issued a circular in which they solicited donations of
books and money with which to effect their purpose. On November 20, 1824, they were incorporated
by the state legislature under the name of The Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association, and on July 4,
1825, the corner-stone of the first building owned by the association was laid by General Lafayette, at the
corner of Henry and Cranberry streets. The first lecture delivered in the completed structure was by
Professor Dana. By 1835 the association had outgrown its original quarters, and the institution was
742
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
^^^^^^^7^^
removed to the site on Washington street, then the
centre of the city's wealth and culture. Li order
to broaden the scope of the association, an amended
charter was granted by the legislature in 1843 and
the name therein was changed to the Brooklyn In-
stitute. For many years thereafter the institute was
an important factor in the social, literary, scientific
and educational life of Brooklyn. From its platform
were heard such eminent scientific men as Agassiz,
Dana, Gray, Henry, Morse, Mitchell, Torrey, Guyot
and Cooke ; such learned divines as Doctors Mc-
Cosh, Hitchcock, Storrs and Budington ; and such
famous orators and thinkers as Phillips, Sumner,
Garrison, Beecher, Emerson, Everett, Curtis, King,
Bellows and Chapin. Its library had a large circu-
lation and its hall was used for many social and his-
toric gatherings. During this period of its history
the institute received from Mr. Graham two import-
ant donations. On July 4, 1848, the building, which
had been heavily mortgaged, he presented to the
trustees free from all encumbrance, and through his
will, made known to the board of directors shortly
after his decease on November 28, 1851, he be-
queathed the sum of $27,000 as a permanent endow-
ment fund. The will directed that the interest on
$10,000 of this fund should be used for the support
of lectures on scientific subjects and for the pur-
chase of apparatus and collections of a scientific
character. The income from $12,000 was to be ap-
propriated to Sunday evening lectures of a religious character, and that of the remaining $5,000 to be
used in the support of a school of design and a gallery of fine arts. For several years prior to 1867,
the institute building began to be regarded as behind the times. The entrance was faulty and its interior
arrangements were inadequate. The income of the building dwindled to a low figure and the support of
the free library became insufficient. The directors remodeled the building in 1867, at an expense of about
$30,000, a part of which was raised by life membership subscriptions of $50 and $100, and the balance by a
mortgage on the building. For twenty years (1867-87) this indebtedness necessitated the application of a
large portion of the income from the rent of the building and from the Graham endowment fund to the
payment of the interest and the principal of the debt. Final payment on the mortgage was made early in
1887. During this period the most the institute was able to do was to circulate its library, keep up its
classes in drawing and provide for the annual address on February 22. Freed from debt, the institute was
able once more to use the whole income from its funds and building for their legitimate purposes, and to
become an important agent in the work of education in the city. The property of the institute in 1887
consisted of the institute building and land, a library of 12,000 volumes, and endowment funds of $46,000.
These last comprise the $27,000 bequeathed by Mr. Graham, the Cary fund of $10,000, for the support of
the library and an increment of $9,000, realized through premiums on the sale of bonds.
During the year 1887-88 a new era in the history of the institute was inaugurated. It was determined to
make the property of the institute the nucleus of a broad and comprehensive institution for the advancement
of science and art and its membership a large and active association, laboring not only for the advancement
of knowledge, but also for the education of the people through lectures and collections in art and science.
In December, 1888, a committee of members of the institute was appointed by the council to organize a
movement which it was hoped might lead to the formation of museums of art and science in Brooklyn.
This action of the council was endorsed by the board of directors early in January. The committee
determined, 'after some deliberation, to call a public meeting of citizens, and to that end drew up a letter of
invitation to a meeting to be held on February 5, 1S89. This letter, signed by about two hundred residents
of Brooklyn, was sent to fifteen hundred citizens who were known to be specially interested in art or science.
At a citizens' meeting, held on February 5, pursuant to the above call, Gen. John B. Woodward, who
acted as chairman of the meeting, stated its purpose, and spoke of the desire felt by the directors that the
property of the institute should be made more valuable to Brooklyn and a nucleus of a much larger
property to be used in the erection of museums of art and science for the education and enjoyment of the
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
743
people. On the motion of Hon. Joshua M. Van Cott, a committee of twenty-five citizens was appointed
to act in conjunction with the directors of the Brooklyn Institute in organiziiwj an association which should
labor to secure a museum of art. The motion having been seconded and adopted, the following persons
were appointed on the committee: Rev. Dr. Charles H. Hall, Rev. Dr. Richard S. Storrs, Hon. Seth Low,
Rev. Dr. A. J. F. Behrends, Hon. Stewart L. Woodford, Ale.xander E. Orr, Rev. Dr. L. T. Chamberlain,
David H. Houghtaling, Hon. Darwin R. James, Charles Pratt, Henry Hentz, John T. Martin, Joseph H.
Knapp, John Gibb, Hon. Joshua M. Van Cott, Rev. Charles R. Baker, Wm. Hamilton Gibson, Rev. John A\'.
Chadwick, A. Augustus Healy, Hon. Frederick A. Schroeder, Carll H. De Silver, William H. Male, Col.
Henry T. Chapman, William Berri, John P. Adams and Frank Squier. To this committee were after-
wards added the following ladies : Mrs. F. H. Wing, Miss Matilda McLean, Mrs. J. S. T. Stranahan,
Mrs. S. B. Duryea, Mrs. Alfred C. Barnes, Mrs. S. V. White, Mrs. Harriet Judson, Miss Susan M.
Barstow, Miss Christina Rounds, Mrs. H. S. Anderson, Miss Caroline B. Le Row and Mrs. F. W. Rockwell.
A form of organization was adopted which contemplated the formation of a large association of mem-
bers and a continual increase- of the endowment funds and the collections of the institute. Provision
was made for a subdivison of the membership into departments, representing various branches of art and
science, each department forming a society by itself and yet enjoying all the privileges of the general asso-
ciation. A general invitation was extended to citizens specially interested in science and art to become
members of the institute ; courses of lectures on science and art were provided ; the directors' room of the
institute was enlarged to accommodate the meetings of some of the departments contemplated, and a large
lecture room on the third floor of the institute building was fitted up, at an e.xpense of $2,600, for the occu-
pancy of some of those departments that would make use of apparatus and collections at their meetings.
During the first fifteen months after the organiza-
tion of the institute, a membership of three hundred
and fifty persons was recorded. The Brooklyn Micros-
copical Society joined the institute in a body with
si.Kty-four members, and became the Department of
Microscopy. The American Astronomical Society,
whose members resided mostly in New York and
Brooklyn, became the Department of Astronomy,
with thirty-two members. The Brooklyn Entomo-
logical Society united with the institute and became
the Entomological Department, with forty-one mem-
bers. The Linden Camera Club of Brooklyn became
the Department of Photography, with twenty-six
members. Departments of physics, chemistry, bot-
any, mineralogy, geology, zoology and archaeology
were successively formed, and each of the twelve
departments named began holding monthly meet-
ings. The permanent funds and property of the in-
stitute were increased by $3,000 ; additions were
made to the library and its circulation increased
from a rate of 12,000 to 46,000 volumes per year;
the lecture courses were fully attended and the
classes in drawing were enlarged. At the first joint
meeting of the committee and the directors, held on
February 21, Dr. Charles H. Hall was elected chair-
man, and Prof. F. W. Hooper, secretary. The pro-
gress of the institute during the year 1889-90 was
even greater than in the preceding fifteen months.
The membership of the twelve departments organ-
ized the previous year was more than doubled ; eight
new and strong departments, viz.: architecture, elec-
tricity, geography, mathematics, painting, philology,
political and economic science, and psychology were
formed ; the membership was increased from three
hundred and fifty to more than twelve hundred ; to
the collections of the institute were made very large
THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE, WASHINGTON STREET. ' " additious; the library was reorganized and its cir-
Hemoved for Bridge Extension..%g.. culation increased from the rate of 46,000 volumes
^^ THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
to SS.o°° volumes per year; 1,500 new books were added for the benefit of the departments and their
members ; the number of lectures, exhibits and meetings of departments was increased from about ninety
in the previous year to two hundred and thirty ; the attendance of the department meetings was more
than doubled, the number of members taking an active part in the meetings and in the work of the insti-
tute was quadrupled; the quality of the lectures and addresses excelled that of the previous year; and out
of the abundance of active and increasing interest in art and science awakened by the old Brooklyn Insti-
tute the new Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences was born, destined to command the attention, the
admiration, the love and the support of every resident of Brooklyn ; to become a means for the education,
the refinement and the uplifting of all its people, and to encourage all other educational institutions in
the city.
The o-rowth of the institute received a slight check in the fall of 1890. On September 12 a serious
fire in the institute building rendered it unfit for immediate use. But owing to the generous hospitality
of other institutions in the city it was possible to carry on its work elsewhere. The Young Men's Chris-
tian Association, the Union for Christian Work, the Packer Collegiate Institute, the Brooklyn Heights
Seminary, the Church of the Saviour, the Adelphi Academy and the Brooklyn Art Association each
contributed the use of rooms for the lectures and other work. The office of the institute was located
temporarily in the Y. M. C. A. building. No. 502 Fulton street. Despite adversity, the growth of the
institute was of a permanent and substantial character — three hundred and twelve new members were
added ; the membership of each of the twenty departments was increased ; the number of lectures and
meetings was three hundred and ten as against two hundred and thirty in the previous year. Each of the
departments did more and better work than in any other pr^.ceding year; the attendance on the lectures
was considerably greater, reaching a total of about 56,000 ; the Geographical Department brought to-
gether a collection of geographical appliances consisting of maps, globes, charts, reliefs, models, atlases,
treatises, text-books and other publications, valued at $6,000; these were exhibited in Brooklyn for four
weeks and in Boston for three weeks; the Boston exhibition being visited by about 16,000 people and the
Brooklyn exhibition by upwards of 37,000 people; subscriptions towards the endowment fund of the
proposed museums were made to the amount of $52,500, and by act of legislation the city was authorized
to expend $300,000 in the creation of the proposed museum buildings on Prospect Hill. Owing to the
sale of the institute property in Washington street to the trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge
for extension purposes, the work of the institute was carried on in 1892 much as during the previous
year, but with ampler facilities. The provision of permanent quarters for the institute will engage the
immediate attention of the officers of the institute during the coming months. The work of erecting
the museum buildings will be begun at once. The first section erected will cost $300,000. The total
structure will be about 425 feet on each of its four sides, and will be lighted by four large interior courts
about one hundred feet square. During the month of December, 1891, the Brooklyn Institute transferred
to the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences its property and estate, as authorized by the laws of 1890.
The deed of transfer was recorded in the county clerk's office on December 31, being the last deed recorded
in that year. The subscriptions to the endowment fund of the institute were payable on the first day of
January, 1892, and amounted to $58,000, making a total endowment of $200,000. During the season of 1891
603 new members were added, making a total membership of 1,810. The year has been a most prosperous
one in the history of the institute; about four hundred public lectures have been given, and the average
attendance has been between 15,000 and 18,000 persons per month. The institute conducts a biological
laboratory during the summer months at Cold Spring Harbor, L. I., under the direction of Prof. Herbert
W. Conn, of Wesleyan University, and has established two summer schools of art ; one at the seashore in
Southampton, L. I., known as the Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art, under the direction of Mr.
William M. Chase, and the second at Lake George, known as the Adirondacks Summer School of Art, under
the direction of Mr. Walter Shirlaw. These schools are designed to give summer instruction in the open
air at moderate rates to students who desire to continue their work during the summer months. A school
of political science was established in the autumn of 1892. The present officers of the board of trustees
are : Gen. John B. Woodward, president ; Rev. Dr. Richard S. Storrs, Hon. James S. T. Stranahan,
Edwin Beers, vice-presidents ; Prof. Franklin W. Hooper, director ; Hon. Eugene G. Blackford, treasurer;
Prof. Robert Foster, secretary. The officers of the associate members are : Rev. Dr. Charles H. Hall,
president ; Rev. William H. Ingersoll, secretary.
John B. Woodward was born in this city, in 1835; he was, at an early age, placed successively under
the tuition of Samuel Putnam and Benjamin W. Dwight, who were then the respective heads of the most
popular academies of this city. In 1850, he began his business career; first as a clerk in the " Swamp,"
the district in which the leather trade in New York is located, and subsequently in the River de la Plate
export trade. He still retains his connection with the latter business, importing wool and hides from the
South American countries, and exporting in return a general line of domestic manufactures. In 1854, he
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 745
became identified with the national guard by enlisting as a private m the Brooklyn City Guard, which was
then attached to the 13th Regiment. In quick succession he became corporal, first-sergeant, second
lieutenant, captain of Company E of the 13th Regiment, lieutenant-colonel, and then colonel. He was
in the United States service with the 13th Regiment in 1861, as second lieutenant; and for three months
in 1862, as lieutenant-colonel. The rank of colonel was conferred upon him early in 1863, which position
he held for five years, when he succeeded Gen. H. B. Duryea as major-general of the second division
of the national guard. Governor Samuel J. Tilden appointed him inspector-general of the state, on the
first of January, 1875, and during the same year he was made president of the department of city works
of Brooklyn. In 1879, he was promoted to be adjutant-general of the state, and on January i, 1880, he
retired from the service, and has since devoted himself to business pursuits and matters affecting the
general welfare of the city. He was appointed as president of the department of Brooklyn parks in 1888
and was legislated out of office in 1889, only to be reappointed soon after ; but being absent in Europe, he
was unable to accept. He is president of the Third National Bank ; a director of the Commercial Mutual
Insurance Company, Guardian Insurance Company, Franklin Trust Company and Franklin Safe Deposit
Company ; and vice-president of the Birkbeck Saving and Loan Association, and a director and trustee in
other industrial corporations. As president of the Brooklyn Institute he was instrumental in changing that
corporation into the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, which will soon provide our citizens with a
museum worthy the importance of the city. The benevolent movement, known as the Fresh Air Fund,
having for its purpose the free conveyance of the children of the poor to the country at regular intervals,
has received his hearty co-operation since its beginning. He is a member of the Brooklyn and the Riding
and Driving clubs and is noted as a good equestrian.
Franklin William Hooper, the director of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, was born in
Walpole, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, on February 11, 1851. His boyhood was spent upon his father's
farm. At the age of seventeen he became a student of Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. While
there he abandoned his design of becoming a clergyman, and turned his attention to the study of science
and natural history. He left Antioch in 1870, and in the following year entered Harvard University,
where he continued the scientific studies which he began at Antioch, devoting a considerable portion of
his time to language and philosophy. Under Louis Agassiz, Asa Gray, Jeffries Wyman, Benjamin Pierce
and Josiah P. Cook he took special courses in various branches, and in 1872 he attended Agassiz's summer
school of natural history at Penikese Island. In 1876, acting as an agent for the Smithsonian Institute at
Washington, he spent some months on a scientific excursion around the coast of Florida, where peculiar
opportunities were afforded for the study of algfe and coral formations. From 1877 until 1880 Professor
Hooper was principal of the high school at Keene, New Hampshire. In June, 1880, he came to Brooklyn
and became professor of chemistry and geology at the Adelphi Academy, where he remained for nine
years. In June, 1889, he was elected curator of the Brooklyn Institute, a position which he filled with
credit to himself and to the advantage of the institution. His opinion had much weight in affecting, in
December, 1891, the amalgamation of the institute with the new Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.
On the coalescence of the old establishment with the new. Professor Hooper was chosen director. In
May, 1876, while returning from Florida, Professor Hooper married Miss Martha Summer Holden, of
Augustin, Ga., whose father was prominent in the abolition movement. They have had three children, two
of whom are living. Professor Hooper is a member of the board of education, having been appointed by
Mayor Boody on March 25, 1892.
THE PRATT INSTITUTE.
In the Pratt Institute Brooklyn possesses a unique establishment. It resembles in its aims the art
schools of Keswick and South Kensington and combines therewith the advantages of such technical
schools as the Whitechapel Guild and the Handicraft School of Birmingham. But it has furthermore cer-
tain distinctive features of its own, which, taken as a whole, render the Pratt Institute the most important
enterprise of its kind in the United States, if not in the world. It was founded by the wise munificence
of Mr. Charles Pratt, and is another example of that high philanthropy in which Peter Cooper illus-
triously led the way. The land was purchased in 1884, and the work begun in the following year. In
1887 the institute received its charter with the power to confer degrees. It was the realization of a scheme
which its founder had cherished for a quarter of a century. The fundamental purpose of the work is to
afl"ord such instruction as shall enable men and women to support themselves by applied knowledge and
skilled handicraft in various industries. It is thus intended to supplement the work of the public and high
schools ; and to those who are employed during the day, opportunity is given in the evening to acquire a
thorough knowledge of the processes of the industrial arts. Earnestness and industry are the indispen-
sable conditions to participation in the privileges of the institute. It is to help those who are willing to
help themselves ; rich and poor are alike welcome. In addition, however, to the purely practical work, the
1
fflBj^^^^ F^lj
'^^^
^fpi.
'■■'V .:':. &:
■PPM
liiStf^Hi^t
liMi
j^k
'-Ca
t.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 747
importance of the moral element in education has not been overlooked, and throughout all its branches
of instruction the institute inculcates self-reliance, self-denial, honesty and thrift as essential increments of
success. The charges for tuition are nominal, ranging from $2 to $30 per course or term, and are made
chiefly to insure earnestness in students.
The buildings of the Pratt Institute are situated on Ryerson street, between Willoughby and DeKalb
avenues. The neighborhood of the elevated road renders them easy of access from all parts of the city
Extensive space across Ryerson street and on Grand avenue has been set apart for the recreation of the
students. These buildings are substantial, fire-proof, and adapted to heavy manufacturing but as in all
structures where convenience and adaptability have been intelligently aimed at, there is no lack'of archi-
tectural beauty ; one finds real aesthetic satisfaction in the perfect appliances for lighting, heating, ventila-
ting, etc., in the solid staircases, the commodious elevators, available both for passenger and freight ser-
vice, land in the superb equipment of the class-rooms and the work-shops. The main structure is of brick
and terra cotta ; it is 100 feet wide and 50 feet in depth, and has si.x stories above the basement. On one
side is a wing 37 by 50 feet. It presents a straightforward appearance of dignified solidity with its Norman
arched doorway and wide, welcoming steps, quite in harmony with the practical and moral character of the
institution of which it is the home. The library is on the first floor and has space for some 30,000 volumes.
Any resident of Brooklyn, over fourteen years of age, may receive upon application the privileges of the
library, which numbers about 20,000 books, and had a general circulation in 1891 of over 122,000. Across the
hall IS the reading room, with its daily papers and innumerable magazines covering the whole range of
human knowledge. Here, too, are the leading encyclopaedias, complete files of the great periodicals and all
the more important books of reference. On the second floor, a part of which is devoted to the offices of
the institute, is the lecture room where courses are delivered on subjects having for the most part a direct
bearing upon the work of the students. Ethics, the problems of social and political life, domestic economy,
sanitary science and the like here receive elucidation. The department of domestic science occupies the
third floor. Instruction is given in dressmaking, millinery and art needlework ; competent teachers give
individual lessons in cutting, fitting and draping. Another branch of this department is on the sixth floor,
where are the two cooking schools. These are fitted with all the appointments of a well-ordered kitchen :
superb ranges, gas stoves, refrigerators, etc. In connection with these is a lunch room communicating
with a similar one in the basement. There are three courses in cookery of twelve lessons each. One of
the most helpful departments is that of commerce, also on the third floor. Here book-keeping is taught
and a thorough knowledge of short-hand and type-writing may be obtained. There is an art hall on the
sixth floor which is used for exhibitions and for the more advanced classes in painting and free-hand draw-
ing. In addition to this the entire fourth floor is devoted to the department of art. The work is thorough
and systematic, embracing regular courses in all kinds of drawing, in painting, designing, wood carving
and clay modeling. There are also lectures on architecture, history of ornamentation, perspective, myth-
ology, theory of color and art anatomy. Particular attention is given to sculpture and wood carving with
special reference to high class work in bronze, copper and stone. The fifth floor has hitherto been occupied
by the technical museum, which is to be removed to the new art building soon to be constructed. This
building will have a large auditorium and, besides the museum, will accommodate the art department and
the library. The collection of specimens for the museum was begun in 1887 and has already acquired
extensive proportions, being especially rich in ceramics. Nor has the pottery from the mounds of the
Mississippi valley been neglected. Glass work is well represented. There are bronzes of various
periods and countries and mosaic work from Florence, Venice and Rome. The mineralogical collec-
tion, arranged according to Rosenbusch, is rapidly approaching scientific completeness. In the rear
of the main structure are the buildings of the mechanic arts, covering an area of 247 by 95 feet,
and varying from one to three stories in height. Here are the engines and dynamos which supply
the whole system with light and heat and furnish the power for the work-shops. The department of
mechanic arts embraces a three years' course of practical work in connection with the instruction received
in the technical high school. The forges and anvils in the smith shops are sufficient to employ twenty-
five pupils at once. In the foundry adjoining is a twenty-inch melting cupola, with brass and white metal
furnaces and a core oven. Special attention is given to art castings in iron and bronze. There is also a full
complement of engine-lathes, drilling-machines, planers, etc.; in short, it is a fully equipped machine shop.
Large space is allotted to workers in wood, and one of the most valuable features is the section devoted to
the building trades ; brick-laying, frame-building, and especially plumbing. The latter includes a regular
course in sanitary engineering and there is space for fifty-four pupils to be engaged in practical work.
It remains to notice a very remarkable and praiseworthy branch of the institute's work. It was
thought that the young people should not only learn to earn money but should also be taught how to use
and care for it. This gave rise to the Pratt Institute Thrift Association, which is a modification of the
well-known system that has met with such success in England. The investment branch provides for
74S
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
systematic economy by issuing investment shares of $150 each, payable at the rate of $1 per month for ten
years. This is in effect equivalent to investing that amount at five per cent., in addition to which a percent-
age on the profits of the business is paid, so that at the end of ten years the investment amounts to about
$160, for which only $120 has been expended. The loan branch of The Thrift, as it is called, furnishes
nine-tenths of the purchase money to anyone wishing to buy a dwelling, a shop, or othei'real estate, and to
cover the expenses of doing business a commission of one per cent, is charged. Through the aid of this
association any person may thus become the owner of his house by annual payments for a limited period
very little in excess of what he would have to pay for rent. In 1891 the work of the institute was extended
at the other end by the purchase of the Froebel Institute, so that kindergarten instruction is now a part of
the general plan. Music has been taught from the first. A course for the training of practical librarians
has recently been introduced. As the years go on the work of the institute bids fair to cover all the fields
of human activity. At the end of its fourth year the Pratt Institute showed a total enrollment of 3,232
students, whose motto is: "Take care of your work and your work will take care of you." The institute
is thus accomplishing the design of its founder in emphasizing the dignity of labor, improving the quality
of the work, and contributing to the comfort and happiness of wage-earners. It has an endowment fund
of $2,000,000 and further resources amounting to $835,000, which are invested in real estate and income-pro-
ducing property. The trustees of the institute are Charles M. Pratt, president; Frederick B. Pratt, secre-
tary and treasurer; George D. Pratt. The faculty consists of Frederick B. Pratt, chairman; Norman P.
Heffley, secretary; William Mc Andrew, Walter S. Perry, Harriet S. Sackett, Charles R. Richards, Margaret
Healy, Emma O. Conro and Hannah D. Mowry.
The Lockwood Academv, Suutu Uxkukd SruiiET.
The Lockwood Academy was established in 1870 by Professor John Lockwood, in response to a request
from the parents of those who had been his pupils at the Adelphi Academy, with which he had then recently
severed his connection. Early in 1863 two teachers from the Polytechnic Institute established a school of
their own in Adelphi street and called it the Adelphi Academy. After six months they arranged with
Professor Lockwood to buy their school furniture with a view to his reopening the school in the fall. About
that time Lee invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania, and President Lincoln, alarmed for the safety of Wash-
n^igton, called for volunteers. 'I'he 23d Regiment of Brooklyn was ordered out in response to the call and
Professor Lockwood joined the regiment as a volunteer for the campaign. They were gone thirty days,
and on his return he wrote and published an account of the doings of the regiment during this brief
service— a book that was much lauded by the local press. He reopened the Adelphi in September.
The school prospered from the first. The total enrollment for that year was twenty-three ; the next year,
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
749
LocKwooD Academy, a Grade Room.
Sixty-one ; the next, one hundred and fifty-six ; the next, three hundred and four ; and the fifth year, four
hundred and seventy-two. At this stage of the school's history an appeal was made to its patrons for
funds to erect a suitable school building. This appeal was generously responded to, and the sum of
$35,000 was quickly raised for a loan. This financial success was largely due to the able generalship
of Thomas Vernon, who thoroughly canvassed the neighborhood with Mr. Lockwood. The loan was secured
by a second mortgage, the first being held by a company from whom a previous loan of $25,000 had been
obtained. In the meantime T. J. Ellinwood
the efficient head of the department of calis-
thenics in the school, had purchased a quarter
interest in the institution, and with the $60,000
raised on the loans the partners bought a plot
of ground two hundred feet by one hundred
and fifty on Lafayette avenue. Hall street (now
called St. James' place) and Clifton place. On
this land they erected a building which was the
nucleus of the present Adelphi Academy. The
corner-stone was laid by the Rev. Henry Ward
Beecher. When the school was established it
was intended for boys only, but in 1867 there
had grown a demand for the admission of girls
and, yielding to this demand, the system of
coeducation of the sexes was inaugurated. Fifty
girls were admitted to the preparatory depart-
ment and the experiment proved immediately
successful. Another innovation for which Pro-
fessors Lockwood and Ellinwood are to be given
credit is the introduction and popularization in
schools of the calisthenic drill, which has proved to be admirably adapted to promote the health of school
children ; and it is interesting to note, in connection with this, that the name " Calistheneum," which they
invented and applied to the hall in which the exercises were held, is in a fair way of becoming, if it has not
already become, an accepted word in the language.
Finding the burden of so great an enterprise too heavy, Messrs. Lockwood and Ellinwood decided to
incorporate it, the Rev. Dr. Budington and others, in whose friendship and good judgment they confided,
having advised that step. Accordingly, in the summer of 1869, by the voluntary act of its proprietors,
Messrs. Lockwood and Ellinwood, it ceased to
be a private school and began its career as a
public institution, Mr. Lockwood continuing to
be its principal. This was a matter of course,
since it was understood at every step and voiced
by every one that spoke on the subject that,
unless he consented to continue at the head of
the school, the plan of incorporation could not
be carried out — that indeed the very and sole
purpose of incorporation was to relieve the prin-
cipal of all pecuniary responsibility that he
might be wholly free to administer the school
in accordance with his high ideal. The initial
year developed so much antagonism between
Mr. Lockwood and the board of trustees that
in May following the connection was violently
severed and Mr. Lockwood at once opened a
new school and called it Lockwood Academy.
This important step was not taken unadvisedly.
A meeting of the Adelphi patrons was called,
to which every parent represented in the school
was invited, to consider the situation. The result of the conference was a resolution, adopted without a
dissenting voice, that Professor Lockwood be requested to open a new school in the neighborhood. The
first location of Lockwood Academy was 139-141 South Oxford street. In 1888 it was removed to its pres-
ent location, 138-140, directly opposite the former building. The school is admirably placed amid healthful
surroundings, in a shady and quiet street, and the house is well adapted to its purpose.
Lockwood Academy— The New Scholar.
75°
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
/
Professor John Lockwood has been for
thirty years one of the foremost educators
in the city of Brooklyn, and has gained more
than a local celebrity by his contributions to
scientific and educational literature. Espe-
cially as a teacher he will long be remem-
bered in Brooklyn, because of the excellent
work he did in establishing the Adelphi
Academy, and also his name will last by
reason of the benefit conferred upon the
community by the creation and successful
operation of the institution in which he is
most interested at the present time. He is
a man peculiarly fitted for the vocation of
teaching, for added to his varied scholarship
are a happy faculty of imparting knowledge
and a nature in sympathy with young people.
He looks upon his pupils as being in a refined
sense his children, and their regard for him
is almost filial. Among the causes that have
led to Professor Lockwood's unique success
in the establishment and conduct of schools
are, first of all, his reverence for his profes-
sion and enthusiasm in his work. He counts
no pains too great that are necessary to
verify an important statement. What are
the facts of the case? — this is the searching
question that he places at the very threshold
of every investigation. His reverence for the
truth and openness for light inspire the con-
fidence of those that are looking to him for
guidance, and begets in them a like spirit. So precious in the work of education does Professor Lockwood
regard this love of truth that he is perpetually solicitous to banish fear — the active principle of falsehood —
from the heart. Thus, under his administration, an offender is never punished on his own confession, nor
on the tattling report of a schoolmate ; he has, therefore, no inducement to prevaricate. Reward, appreci-
ation, praise, are the instruments of discipline ; rather than punishment, depreciation and reproof. In this
scheme of education character is the thing placed above everything else. This is the rock upon which
Professor Lockwood builds, and it is the great secret of his success as a teacher. Professor Lockwood
was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., on July 13, 1827, and is one of a family of six brothers and two sisters.
He was brought up as a Quaker and has always retained his membership in that religious society. His
father, for whom he was named, one of Poughkeepsie's most enterprising and prosperous merchants of that
day, removed the family in 1834 to New York city and there engaged in the drygoods jobbing business in
Pearl street, in partnership with a brother, the firm name being John and Walter Lockwood. The latter will
be remembered by Brooklynites of twenty-five years ago as one of the leading drygoods merchants of
Fulton street. After preparatory study under a private tutor, and in private schools in New York city, the
future educator entered Columbia College when he was seventeen years old and was graduated on the com-
pletion of his full course of four years, during which he bore off at every mathematical examination one of
the two coordinate prizes offered in that department. About the time of his graduation, when the annual
convention of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity was held in New York under the auspices of the Lambda Chapter,
he was selected by that chapter to read the annual poem. Later, he was chosen poet to represent the
alumni association of Columbia College, at their anniversary exercises in i860. For two or three years
after leaving college Professor Lockwood engaged in study and literary work, including a winter's course in
the medical department of the University of Michigan, and at the same time began his career as a teacher,
following the occupation for several years interruptedly, in private and public schools in the neighborhood
of New York. About the year 1854, he succeeded the late James Parton in the position of assistant
editor of Morris & Willis' Home Jour/ial ; but not finding the work quite congenial he gave it up the fol-
lowing year and spent the winter of 1855-6 in the West Lulies. Astronomy is one of Professor Lockwood's
favorite studies, and at an early period in his career his proficiency in that science attracted the attention of
his former preceptor at Columbia, Prof. Hackley, who introduced him to Mr. Charles A. Dana, then managing
Professor John Lockwood.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
751
editor of the New York Tribune under Horace Greeley, and recommended the pubUcation of an article by
Mr. Lockwood on the comet that had then just appeared. This was about the year 1858. The article was
published in the next day's Tribune and proved the first of a long series of astronomical articles which
graced the columns of that paper from week to week. At this time the " American Cyclopedia " was in
course of publication, and Dr. Thomas Hill, president of Harvard College, had been contributing the astro-
nomical articles, but was about to retire from the work. So satisfactory to the Tribune had Prof. Lock-
wood's articles been that Mr. Dana paid him the great compliment of invitmg him to succeed President
Hill. This was a serious undertaking, but it was accepted, and so well was the work done for the remain-
ing volumes of the cyclopedia, that when the new edition of this great work was projected several years
later, Mr. Dana, still its coeditor, invited Mr. Lockwood to take charge of the department of astronomy.
But the professor was then so much absorbed in the management of a very large school that he felt obliged
to decline the honor — an honor that afterward fell to that famous astronomical writer, the late Professor
Richard A. Proctor. Professor Lockwood has completed a short treatise on astronomy for use in schools.
He has varied his arduous academic duties by literary labor performed at frequent intervals and inspired
mostly by his love of letters and of the science of astronomy. He seldom publishes over his own signature,
preferring the modest privacy of a nom de plume. He has all his life been blessed with a happy home ; and
this is no small factor in the sum total of the influences that have contributed to his successful career. An
unmarried sister, who has always been his shield and buckler and whose virtues he has sung in many a
tender line, is now the head of his household. He continues to devote his life actively to his noble profes-
sion, finding in the intellectual and moral unfolding of the youth placed under his care a charm far greater
than any he could derive from mere pecuniary success.
BEDFORD ACADEMY.
Bedford Academy, which occupies the grounds and buildings at 57-67 New York avenue, was organized
in 1886 by Mr. James W. Morey as the Bedford Heights Institute, under which name it was conducted until
the fall of 1890, when it was purchased by Dr. George Rodeman, who has since introduced some of the
thorough methods of the German gymnasiums. A complete system of physical training, consisting of
military drill and gymnastic exercises, has been established, and an out-door gymnasium has been fitted up
for the use of the pupils ; it is the only gymnasium of its kind in the United States. Dr. Rodeman finds the
Bedford Academy.
75^
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
George Rodeman, M. A., Ph. D.
climate favorable enough for out-door work during at least
six of the nine months of the school year, the remainder of
the season being spent in the covered gymnasium hall.
Dr. George Rodeman, the principal of the Academy,
was born in Usch, in the province of Posen, Germany, on
May 13, 1861. He received his educational the Royal Gym-
nasium and at the University of Berlin, from which he was
graduated in 1885. In the summer of that year he came to
.America to visit his brother and to finish his education by
travel. AVhile here he became interested in the work of
Harvard LIniversity. He became a student, and later a
teacher in that institution ; taking the degree of Master of
Arts in 1887, and that of Doctor of Philosophy in 1889. His
specialty is classical philology. For a year he taught in the
private schools of New York, and in 1890 purchased the
present Bedford Academy, which he reorganized and made
a successful school. Dr. Rodeman is an active member of
the Union League and Germania clubs of this city, the Har-
vard Club of New York, the Brooklyn Institute, the Ameri-
can Philological Association, the Arion, the German Hospital
Society, and the New York Avenue Methodist Episcopal
Church.
THE BROOKLYN LATIN SCHOOL.
The Brooklyn Latin School was conceived and founded by its present proprietor and principal. Dr.
Caskie Harrison, M. A., Ph. D., in 1S83. The school is designed for the general training and special prep-
aration of a limited number of boys, and is noted as taking every measure that will warrant a distinctive
recognition among the best preparatory schools. Dr. Harrison, the founder and principal, was head of his
house at Rugby School, England, a prize man of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a professor of languages
in the University of the South, and is by education and experience eminently fitted to conduct an institu-
tion of this kind. The course of the school has been uniformly successful until at the present time the
number of pupils equals the capacity of the school and only a limited number of scholars are accepted
annually. The equipment of the school is unsurpassed and the system of utilizing all modern appliances
with a limited number of individuals is carried out in every particular. The number of boys entering college
from the Brooklyn Latin School is extremely large in proportion to the number of its pupils, and their success
in various universities speaks of the high character of their preparation. The list of studies includes
every subject that is pertinent to the work of a complete preparatory school, and the staff is composed of
men well fitted for the positions they fill. The school house at 145 Montague street is well situated, its
five floors having been refitted for the special needs of a school. A judicious system of prizes and rewards
has been adopted ; a gymnasium has been added and physical instruction is a part of the curriculum.
THE COLLEGE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
The College Grammar School, long established in the Hamilton building, at Court and Joralemon
streets, has been successfully conducted during nearly all its forty-three years of existence by Professor
Levi Wells Hart, A. M. It was organized in 1849 by the Rev. Edmund B. Tuttle, under the patronage of
many distinguished clergymen and bishops of the Episcopal Church, Ogden Hoffman, George P. Morris,
N. P. Willis, and others equally prominent in that day, together with well-known citizens of Brooklyn. Its
first principal, C. A. Silliman, A. M., was succeeded after three years by Professor Hart, to whom many
Brooklyn students have been indebted for a most thorough preparation for college, for the scientific schools,
and the United States Naval and Military Academies. Professor Hart was graduated from Yale in 1846,
and had the satisfaction of learning from the venerable President Woolsey that he was one of the best
Greek scholars ever under his instruction. The equipment of the school is complete, its methods are
thorough, and its discipline is such as conduces to a high-minded manhood.
CATHOLIC COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS.
St. John's College is the foremost educational institution in Brooklyn directly ruled by the Roman
Catholic Church, and one of the best known training schools for the priesthood in the country ; it occupies
the entire side of Lewis avenue, between Willoughby avenue and Hart street. The college is comparatively
young, its inception having been in the Council of the late Bishop Loughlin, who deemed that a suitable
educational institution had become a necessity in his diocese. In accordance with this conviction the
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 753
college of St. John the Baptist was founded, and the corner-stone of the building, on the corner of Willough-
by and Lewis avenues, was laid in the summer of 1868. On September 5, 187 1, the building was opened for
pupils under the presidency of the Rev. J. T. Landry, C. M., who served until January, 1876, when he was
relieved by the Rev. A. J. Myer, C. M. In January, 1882, he was in turn succeeded by the Rev. J. A. Hart-
well, also of the Congregation of the Mission, the college having always been under the direction of that
order. This being the only Catholic institution in the diocese having the privilege of a university, no pains
have been spared to ensure thoroughness of instruction and a high standard of training. It is noted for
careful work in the higher education, particularly in those branches which are useful in preparing young
men for entering upon ecclesiastical studies. It is on a par with the best institutions of the country, no
effort being spared by the present bishop to advance its grade. In 1890 large additions were made to the
old building until now St. John's College occupies one of the finest edifices in Brooklyn.
St. Francis' College was founded in 1859, when the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn purchased a build-
ing on Baltic street, near Court, for a combined school and residence of the order. This building had
already been used as a public school, and was eminently fitted for the use to which it has since been applied.
This school became known as the St. Francis' Academy, and formed the nucleus of the college and monas-
tery which now occupies its place. Brother Jerome, the superior, made great additions to the old building
in 1871, and altered the title of the school to that which it bears at present, at the same time enlarging the
curriculum and advancing the school to a high grade in the ranks of educational institutions. It includes
collegiate, scientific and commercial departments attended by two hundred and fifty students, one-third of
whom board in the institution. The college has an excellent library both for research and recreation, and
is supplied with physical and chemical instruments of the latest and most approved pattern and in sufficient
numbers to perform all necessary practical experiments. The college stands deservedly high both as a
school and as a place where the most kindly influences are brought to bear for the direction of the young.
The Academy of the Visitation, on the corner of Clinton and Willoughby avenues, was established in
185s by the Sisters of the Visitation B. V. M. The order of the Visitation was founded by St. Francis de
Sales and St. Jane de Chantal, at Annecy, France, in 1610. The first American house was established at
Georgetown, D. C, in 1799. The institution in this city was founded from Baltimore, September 24, 1855,
by the Rt. Rev. John Loughlin, D.D., first Bishop of Brooklyn, and in 1863 was incorporated by the legis-
lature of New York, under the title of the " Female Institute of the Visitation." For twenty-five years the
institute was on the corner of Johnson and Pearl streets, but in 1880 the present large property on Clinton
avenue, extending along Willoughby to Waverly, was purchased and the present academy erected. The new
building is of Jersey free-stone, with a frontage of 220 feet ; the chapel is in the centre, with the convent
and academy on either side. The school is very complete, and has an excellent supply of philosophical
instruments and a fine library.
Connected with all or nearly all of the Catholic parishes in Brooklyn there are parochial schools and
other educational institutions individual mention of which will be found in the sketches of such churches
in the chapter on Churches and Religious Organizations.
ST. JOSEPH'S INSTITtJTE.
The Brooklyn branch of St. Joseph's Institute, an institution for the improved instruction of deaf mutes,
was established in 1874 ; the house, 510 Henry street, being purchased with the funds contributed by a few
charitable citizens. The parent institution sprang from a private academy which was opened in Fordhani
in 1869, but which was afterwards merged into a school for deaf mutes only. The quarters became crowded
and necessitated the Brooklyn branch, which in 1876 received power from the legislature to receive county
pupils, and two years later, state pupils. Since it was first opened the Brooklyn branch has been filled with
pupils whose board, tuition, and clothing bills are paid by the county from which they come. Both sexes
were first admitted between the ages of six and twelve. At present girls only are received at the Brooklyn
branch, which is located at 113 Buffalo avenue, a boy's department of the parent institution having been
established at West Chester, New York. The girls are taught dressmaking, together with various kinds of
hand and machine sewing, and in their leisure hours they apply themselves to fancy work. The branches
of instruction taught in the class rooms are the same as those pursued in the common schools. The
method of instruction is what is known as the oral method. Signs are discarded entirely as being obstacles
to the speech, and watching the movements of the lips is employed instead. There are at present seventy
pupils in the Brooklyn branch. The managers of St. Joseph's Institute are Ernestine Nardin, president ;
Mary B. Morgan, vice-president : Annie M. Larkin, secretary and treasurer. Margaret Cosgrove is deputy
superintendent of the Brooklyn branch ; R. M. Mead, M. D., is the attending physician, and A. Ross Mathe-
son, M. D., the consulting physician.
' ' b t- J SCHOOLS FOR GIRLS.
The Brooklyn Heights Seminary for Girls was established by Professor Alonzo Grey in 185 1. At his
death, nine years later, it became the property of Dr. Charles E. West, who, assisted by the late Miss Mary
y-4 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
A. Brigham, carried it on most successfully until 18S9, when at the retirement of Dr. West and Miss Brighara
the school passed into the hands of the present principals, Miss Clara R. Colton, Miss Katherine S. Wood-
ward, and Miss Isabel D. Hubbard. The two houses occupied by the school, 138 and 140 Montague street,
were originally erected for this purpose by Professor Grey, and are eminently adapted for educational work.
The course of instruction embraces all the studies included in a thorough English education, individual
teaching being a marked feature in the method of instruction, and each department being under the care of
a specialist. A special feature of the school is a number of lectures delivered throughout the year by Pro-
fessor Tohn Fiske, Miss Jane Meade Welch, W. H. Goodyear, A. T. Van Laer, Richard E. .Burton and others.
Both resident and day pupils are received.
Miss Rounds' School for Girls was founded in 1876 by its present principal, Miss Christiana Rounds,
as a select school for girls and as a preparatory school for Smith, Vassar and Wellesley colleges, where its
graduates are admitted on certificate. The school has been conducted since its foundation in its present
quarters at 525 Clinton avenue. Pu|)ils are admitted at the age of eight to the preparatory course and to
the regular course about four years later. Special attention is paid to English composition throughout the
course, instruction being given in carefully graded classes and by individual criticism. A Latin course of
four years is a feature of the school. At present the staff of instructors numbers ten and the number of
students is about ninety.
Mrs. Goodwin's School for Girls is pleasantly situated at 154 Montague street in a handsomely fur-
nished and decorated house, where the system of individual instruction is fully carried out. This is
emphatically a "parlor school," and is conducted by its founder, Mrs. R. Goodwin and her partner Miss
Agnes Goodwin. Mrs. Goodwin is a native of Germany, and makes the language of that country a specialty
in her school with great success. Miss Goodwin is a native of Boston, Mass., where she won a high repu-
tation as a teacher, and had high social connections. She became a partner of Mrs. Goodwin in the fall
of 1891.
The Berkeley Institute for Young Ladies, which occupies the double villa, 183 and 185 Lincoln
place, was incorporated in 1886 and placed under the charge of twenty-two trustees, of which board Mayor
Boody is the president. The institute is under the direction of Miss Charlotte E. Hayner, assisted by an
able corps of teachers. The intention is to provide the residents of the Park slope with thorough education
for their daughters in a private and homelike school, where healthy environment and good physical training
can be added to mental work.
Professor Dughee's School for Young Ladies and Children is at 139 Clinton street, and has
long had an excellent reputation as a preparatory school for children and as an academic school for girls.
Professor Joseph Dughee has had great e.xperience in education in this city, and has been the founder of
several schools.
Miss Hall's School for Young Ladies, at 50 Monroe place, has been established for several years under
the direction of its present principal, who has recently associated with herself Miss Anna Mitchell, and has
adapted her house to receive resident pupils. The school is well known as one of the most fashionable in
the city.
smaller private schools.
The Prospect Park Institute, a scientific English classical and commercial school for boys, was
opened at 1 10 Prospect place, near Flatbush avenue, in September, 1883, by R. E. Dodge, formerly instructor
in the Annapolis Naval Academy. The principal has had much experience as a practical engineer and the
tread of the school is naturally scientific.
The St. Luke's Acade.my of the German Evangelical Lutheran St. Luke's Church, located at 163
Carlton avenue, was erected in 1878, under the direction of Pastor Baden. The present director is the
pastor, the Rev. H. Ludwig.
The Bedford Institute was established in 1878 by Miss Purdy at 195 McDonough street. The
school is located at 221 McDonough street. A kindergarten department has recently been added which is
conducted on the German system now so thoroughly accepted. The work is carried through the academic
grades. The art department is large and well equipped.
The New York Avenue Institute was established by Misses Parsons and Dennen, on Bergen street,
where they conducted it for seven years. Mrs. E. H. Sanborn purchased the school in 1892. The school
had previously been conducted for about four years at its present location on the corner of New York
avenue and Pacific street.
Mr. and Mrs. Ferris for several years conducted a boarding school for children on Bushwick avenue,
near Steuben street. Recently they moved to 494 Greene avenue, where the school is continued on the
same lines as before.
De ViLLEROv's School of Languages, at 126 Joralemon street, was founded in 1882 as a branch of the
Berlitz school of New York. Three years ago Prof. De Villeroy purchased the school from Dr. Berlitz and
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
755
is its present director. Prof. De Villeroy is a graduate of the University of Paris and stands deservedly
high as an educator.
The Stearn's School of Languages was established in 1880 by Prof. Sigmen M. Stearn as a branch
of his school in New York city. It has always occupied quarters on Montague street and is at present
located on that thoroughfare.
The Friends' School has been conducted for thirty years in the Friends' meeting house on Schermer-
horn street.
KINDERGARTENS.
The Froebel Kindergarten was founded in 1876 by the Misses Sharpe, its present proprietors, on the
lines laid down by Friedrich Froebel, the great German educator. The school was first located on Fulton
street, opposite Johnson, but a year later moved to 76 Montague street, where it remained for two years ;
for eleven years Clinton street and Atlantic avenue was the location but, in 1890, the school returned to
Montague street and occupied the house at No. no. The school is the longest established in one city of
the kindergartens in the United States. The system of the school is individual instruction for very
young children.
The Froebel Academy was incorporated in June, 1883, and opened for instruction the following
September. It was the outgrowth of the efforts of a few earnest people who felt the need up-town of a
school which should carry the principles of the kindergarten through the early years of education. The
founders and first board of trustees were : Dr. Ale.x. Hutchins, Geo. W. Hebard, James Richmond, Charles
H. Chadwick, Mrs. C. W. Chadwick, Mrs. A. W. Tenney, W. E. Uptegrove and Geo. G. Brooks. The first
principal was Miss M. E. Laing. In 1886 Miss Laing was succeeded by Miss Gertrude A. Adams. In 1889
the direction of the school was taken by Miss Caroline W. Hotchkiss, with Miss E. D. Hotchkiss in charge
of the kindergarten and primary department. Much of the success of the school is due to the Froebel
Society, an association of mothers, whose children attend the school. In 1890 the school was purchased by
the late Chas. Pratt, and has since been a part of the magnificent institution that bears his name. Al-
though the school still occupies its small quarters at 686-690 Lafayette avenue, its work has proved very
beneficial in the neighborhood. The distinguishing aim of the school is to carry the kindergarten princi-
ples and atmosphere through all the departments, to bring the world without to bear naturally upon the
thought of the pupil, and in this scheme of education the school has proved eminently successful.
CLAGHGRN'S "BRYANT & STRATTON " BUSINESS COLLEGE.
Charles Claghorn, the proprietor and head of the Brooklyn "Bryant & Stratton " Business College,
is a practical educator and has had a full share in
building up the Bryant & Stratton plan of interna-
tional cooperative business education. This system
embraces a chain of colleges established by Messrs.
Bryant & Stratton in the principal cities of the
United States and Canada. While each of the allied
institutions is independent of all the rest, there is a
comity of intercourse existing between them whereby
uniformity of method is secured and certain rela-
tions are maintained, which give a practical turn to
the course of study. Mercantile transactions are
carried on between the students of the several col-
leges, by aid of the mails, and thus the young men
are made familiar with all the details of the trans-
portation office, the importing and jobbing house,
the commission house, the bank, the agency bureau
and all the other features of cosmopolitan trade.
Mr. Claghorn laid the foundation for his success in
this line of education when he was a young man by
getting together a number of his companions for the
purpose of mutual aid in various branches of study,
and more particularly in the line of penmanship and
book-keeping. This course he supplemented by a
course of study at the Bryant & Stratton Business
College, in Albany, and when he had finished there
he went to Illinois. A clerkship in a frontier store
CHARLES CLAGHORN. was his first positiou and he obtained it without
75^
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
difficulty or delay, but he was too ambitious to remain in a subordinate position for any extended period, and
s^ion he went into business on his own account. Very early in his western experience he had established a
reputation as an expert accountant, and he was frequently called upon by others to assist them in that capac-
ity. After a valuable experience in the west, Mr. Claghorn returned to the east in 1865, and in that year
took up the profession of a business educator ; he formed a partnership with S. S. Packard, who then was
managina,- the Commercial College in New York city. Ten years later, in February, 1875, he purchased the
Brooklyn^branch, which he has conducted ever since. Mr. Claghorn is a New Englander by birth, and his
immediate ancestors were natives of Scotland, who included in their number several men who won reputa-
tion as ship-builders and mariners. He was born in Williamsburgh, Mass., on November 13, 1836. As a
resident of Brooklyn he has proven himself a valuable member of the community in other directions than
in his special vocation. He is an official in the department of political and economic science of the
Brooklvn Institute, and he is one of the executive committee of the Civil Service Reform Association of
Brooklyn. The various charitable and philanthropic institutions of the city enlist his hearty sympathy, and
he is a ready worker in any cause that is promotive of the general welfare. Mr. Claghorn has lately been
elected vice-president of the Mercantile Cooperative Bank of New York city.
One of the most thoroughly practical educational institutions in Brooklyn is Kissick's Business College,
of which W. A. Kissick, A. M., is the principal. The college is located at 45, 47 and 49 Ashland place, and
is designed especially for the training of young men and women for business occupations, but it affords
opportunity for classical and other studies connected with preparation for admission to university courses,
and it includes a preparatory department for those pupils whose ordinary education is not sufficiently
advanced to enable them to enter the commercial classes. An excellent feature in the institution is the
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
757
provision made for individual instruction and study, by which a student who desires it may have a separate
room m which to pursue the studies in hand under the personal direction of the instructor The college
occupies a large detached building, convenient of access, in the business centre of the city but sufficiently
retired to afford that degree of quiet which is necessary to effective study ; the building is 'three stories in
height above a high basement, and is well lighted by large windows on each of its four sides. The courses of
instruction include every depart-
ment of an ordinary English edu-
cation, and especially the art of ' ,., — -,—„.,_„ .„,„.,,,,,,,
writing correctly, together with
every branch of knowledge re-
quired in the perfect equipment
of clerks, book-keepers and cash-
iers, such as stenography, type-
writing, manifolding, and all the
arts that contribute to the rapid
transaction of business in these
times. For the benefit of those
whose days are occupied and who
wish to add to their education,
short evening sessions are held.
Professor Kissick established his
college in 1872, and for five years
conducted it as a private school ;
in 1877 he opened it publicly, and
since then it has been uniformly
prosperous.
W. A. Kissick, A. M., was born
in the northern part of Ireland
on August 2, 1844. Until he was
fifteen years old he was obliged
to do considerable work on his
father's farm, and then he went to
Scotland, where subsequently he
was graduated at the Glasgow
Academy. In 1866 he came to
America with his sister, and in the
same year he became a teacher of
book-keeping, penmanship and
other studies at Payne's Business
College in New York. Within a
few weeks he was transferred to
Brooklyn to take charge of the
KissicK's Business College.
branch of the college, which was located opposite the city hall. In 1871 this institution changed hands and
he returned to his original position in New York. He left it to take charge of the Thompson Business
College, and at the same time taught book-keeping and penmanship in the Rev. Henry B. Chapin's College,
New York, and after school hours, holidays and nights till a late hour he gave private instruction. Ill
health compelled him to abandon his work at the expiration of four years and to return to his native land,
where he remained for nineteen months. After his return he inaugurated his present enterprise in Brooklyn.
BROWNE'S BROOKLYN BUSINESS COLLEGE.
Browne's Brooklyn Business College is a training school for youth of both sexes in accounts, business
affairs, counting-house details, shorthand, typewriting, telegraphy, etc., and office duties generally. The
space occupied by the various departments is nearly 10,000 superficial feet, and each section is fitted up in
the manner most appropriate for the different specialties pursued. The commercial students each have a
spacious desk, with conveniences, for the filing of papers, etc. There are also separate offices for banking
and other leading branches of business, fitted with suitable appliances. The erroneous idea that a business
college is a place where students " play at doing business " is dispelled by the actual work done here. A
system of individual responsibility is established ; each student's work is carefully scrutinized and criticized,
the relations being more like those of employer and clerk than of scholar and teacher. The business men
758
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Thomas R. Huou-.xk.
of our own and the adjoining cities have long since learned to appreciate
the merits of students trained under Mr. Browne's system and are eager to
employ them. This school is the immediate successor of " Paine's Writing
Academy," an institute that many of our townspeople who sought to im-
prove their handwriting in the " forties " will remember.
Thomas R. Browne, the proprietor of the school, was born in Stam-
ford, Conn., in 1834. He early came to New York and followed the
business of accountant, but a natural bias for teaching induced him to take
charge of the commercial department of Paine's New York Commercial
School for several years. In 1863 he became the proprietor, by purchase,
of the old writing academy, and at once set about e.xtending its sphere of
action. Up to that time the commercial school in general had nothing
better than copy books, and little more than an idea of the theory of
accounts was even expected from them. Mr. Browne at once originated
systems of actual business practice, and demonstrated that lads and others
could go direct from his training to the counting-house and take charge of
books and attend to details, often excelling in skill men of long experience.
The perfection of the writing machine marked a new era in the use of shorthand writing by merchants and
professional men, and gave to the women the long-looked for "chance in business." The necessity for
amanuenses, expert in both arts, was soon perceived and special departments were organized for their
benefit. The women have most largely responded to this new demand, and these departments are but little
less in numbers than the commercial department. More than half a hundred machines are almost constantly
clicking under the deft fingers of the fair writers, transcribing into plain type their phonographic hiero-
glyphics, previously taken down from dictation, given by the shorthand
' "~™~ ' teacher in her special room. Mr. Browne's eldest son, Edmond C. Browne,
the practical business man of the establishment, drills these students in the
exact kind of work that will be required of them from future employers.
He spent several years in New York business houses to prepare for his
future profession and is an accomplished penman, an authority in accounts,
author of business college text-books and a most acceptable teacher. The
continuous sessions and evening instruction of this school are some of the
features which distinguish it from other educational institutions and show
that the faculty are indefatigable in the cause of practical education. Mr.
Browne has never allowed the mere management of his business to engross
all his time, but has always taken the leading part in teaching, never being
wiUing to depend upon assistants entirely — though they are carefully
selected. The register of this school for the thirty-third year shows a
■ I larger enrollment than for any year of its past history. The many students
I in attendance whose fathers were educated here for mercantile life con-
clusively proves that Mr Browne retains the confidence of his patrons.
The college was first located in the Whitehouse buildings on Fulton street.
It now occupies the whole upper portion of the fine double building built by the late Dr. George Cochran,
at 306 Fulton street.
LONG ISLAND BUSINESS COLLEGE.
The Long Island Business College was organized in 1873 with twelve students, and it has grown
yearly since then until it has an attendance of nearly seven hundred students annually. Henry C. Wright,
the proprietor and principal, was born in Canada on the St. Lawrence in 1843. He inherited from his father
a gift for teaching, and added to it a practical talent for business. He studied accounts and correspondence
m his father's business, and after obtaining a practical school education, was graduated at the Friends'
College, Picton, Ont., now Pickering College, Toronto, and later attended the Toronto Normal School. He
taught in the public schools in Canada, and in 1869 came to the United States and engaged in the accounting
busmess in the city of Philadelphia with an experienced French accountant. He spent one year at this
employment, and then came to Brooklyn, where he engaged in business college work. In 1890 Mr. Wright
purchased the property 143, 145, 147 and 149 South Eighth street, and a year later commenced demolishing
the old buildings thereon to make room for his present college building, which cost him nearly one hundred
thousand dollars, and has accommodations for eight hundred students, with every modern appliance for the
work of commercial instruction.
Edmond C. Browne.
The Buooklyn Library.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
ROOKLYN never has been a literary centre. It is not in accordance witii
modern conditions that it should be. If we measure the intellectual force of a
community by the highest standard, there is no longer any city that can, in a
strict sense, be called a literary centre. In this cosmopolitan age when the
facilities for travel and quick communication have made every city in some sort
the suburb of every other, a universally acknowledged home of letters is an
impossibility. We cannot now, as in the days when from Florence, Paris, Edin-
burgh, or Weimar went forth the epoch-making creations which left their stamp
upon the century, look to any one source for our edification and instruction.
The roving genius of our time is against it. Henceforward a city must gratify its pride of intellect by
claiming for itself some part of the glory of all the distinguished men who have called it their home, either
by birthright or adoption, in whatever quarter of the wide earth their laurels have been won. Thus,
though Brooklyn has never been a literary centre nor exercised in that broad sense a dominant intellectual
influence upon the country, we can yet boast of poets, authors, orators and scholars who have been born
within our boundaries and of a host who have made this city their life-long home.
The clergymen of Brooklyn have been worthily prominent in American literature. Henry Ward
Beecher, whose profound wisdom, moving eloquence, and steadfast efforts to humanize Christianity as well
as to christianize humanity, had made him the idol of the nation as well as the object of sincere respect
abroad, has done more than any other man to shed glory upon the city of his adoption and to entitle it to
a place in the intellectual annals of the land. Beecher's contributions to literature are numerous and
varied. The most notable of his early books was the famous " Lectures to Young Men," published during
his western pastorate. "Pleasant Talk About Fruits, Flowers and Farming" [1859], consisted of his con-
tributions as editor to the Fanner and Gardener. His Independent articles, signed with the well-known star,
attained wide celebrity; in 1855 these articles appeared in book form as the " Star Papers;" they deal
760
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Edward Eggleston.
with the manifold problems and aspects of art and
nature in that large human spirit which is charac-
teristic of all Beecher's utterances. A second
series of " Star Papers " appeared three years
afterward, which treated more specifically of re-
ligious experiences ; in England the latter volume
was republished as "Summer in the Soul." The
appearance of the " Plymouth Collection of Hymns
and Tunes," in 1855, under his editorship, marked
an era in Congregational church music. This
collection became the model for all subsequent
hymn books. In 1870, when The Christian Union
was established, Beecher became its editor-in-
chief. Prior to this a series of papers had been
printed in The New York Ledger and attracted
universal attention by the keen but kindly obser-
vation they evinced, as well as by the lofty thought
and gentle humor which are always to be found
side by side in Beecher's deliverances. These
were the celebrated "Thoughts as They Occur,
by One Who Keeps His Eyes and Ears Open."
They were collected under the title of " Eyes
and Ears." We have one novel from his pen,
" Norwood," which he published in 1867. It con-
tains a fine and delicate delineation of village life
in New England thirty years ago. It is filled with
the atmosphere which he had breathed in his
cradle, and represents that wonderful mixture
of energy and asceticism in the New England
character which thus far throughout the history of our country has proved powerful enough to leaven
the whole lump.
Beecher's books for the most part were accidental, were formed that is, by the gradual accretion of
brief essays or oral utterances. One extensive work, however, he did attempt, but left it unfortunately a
fragment to be completed by other hands. This was the early heralded, long expected " Life of Christ."
The old story is told with dramatic fervor and impressive solemnity, but it breaks off at the Sea of Galilee,
when " the voice ceased." No other work of a large scope was ever attempted by him. During forty
years of uninterrupted pulpit labor he preached to one of the largest congregations in America, and to
an audience of many tens of thousands besides, not present in the body, to whom his sermons were
reported week for week. Something more than fifteen volumes of these sermons have been published. The
Lectures on Preaching, which were delivered before the divinity students of Yale College in the early part
of the seventies, have been collected into three volumes, which are among the most valuable of all Beecher's
writings. His sermons delivered in the White Mountains appeared under the title of "A Summer Parish."
[1874.]
To every cause that proposed the advancement of the human race, to every political movement that
promised to subserve the higher interests of his country, Beecher lent the power of his oratory. Some of his
addresses and separate lectures were printed in the volume entitled " Freedom and War." The oration
which he delivered on the occasion of the Burns' centennial celebration in 1859 is generally considered his
finest effort. But to the mind of tlie patriotic American, when the name of Beecher is mentioned, there
occurs first of all the memory of his soul-stirring career in England when our land was sunk in the depths
of civil war. It is one of the grand scenes in the history of that war, that before a hostile audience by the
simple indomitable will of manhood he should at Mst obtain a hearing and then speak with such over-
whelming eloquence that what he began amid angry hisses he ended amid enthusiastic cheers. These
" Speeches on the American Rebellion " were published in London in 1864, and contributed more than any
other agency towards changing the popular sentiment in Great Britain in those trying days. These and
other addresses, some of which were included in earlier volumes, have been reprinted" lately, under the
title " Patriotic Addresses." Of his various sayings and fugitive writings several collections have been
made; one such was culled in England and has since appeared in America as" Royal Truths." Edna Dean
Proctor issued a collection of his utterances under the title of " Life Thoughts." Similar compilations
have been made by others ; among them Dr. Lyman Abbott, who has also written a life of his great
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
761
predecessor, in connection witii whicli mention should be made of Mr. John R. Howard's " Henry Ward
Beecher, a Study," which is, perhaps, the most careful analysis of Mr. Beecher's character and mental
processes yet published. Mr. Howard's personal and literary relations with Mr. Beecher for many years
abundantly qualified him for this work.
Beecher's successor and biographer, Rev. Lyman Abbott, D. D., was for some time his associate on the
Christian Union, and upon Beecher's retirement he became its editor-in-chief. He has always devoted a
large portion of his time to literary pursuits. For a time he had charge of the " Literary Record " of
Harper s Magazine, and edited the Illustrated Christian Weekly. He is the author of several important
pamphlets ; especially instructive in his discussion of the " Results of Emancipation in the United States,"
which appeared in 1867. Dr. Abbott prepared also a " Dictionary of Bible Knowledge," and an
"Illustrated Commentary on the New Testament," in four volumes; in these works the author has
rendered invaluable assistance to clerical as well as to lay students of the scriptures. We have also
from Dr. Abbott's pen " Jesus of Nazareth," 1869 ; " Old Testament Shadows of New Testament Truths,"
1870, and "A Layman's Story," 1872. His latest work, given to the public in 1892, contains an exposition
of religious truths from the broad view point of modern progressive thought and in the catholic spirit
which we are accustomed to expect from the occupant of Plymouth pulpit. . The book is entitled " The
Evolution of Christianity."
In reviewing the literary life of Brooklyn, as represented by the clergy of the city, the name of John
White Chadwick deserves special emphasis, for although holding an important pastoral charge, he is
essentially the man of letters. He represents the most advanced thought of the Unitarian community.
His discourses were for a time issued serially, but it is through his books that he has exerted the widest
influence. It was during the latter part of the seventies that he began to draw attention to himself by his
broad vigorous treatment of the highest problems of religious life and human conduct ; " The Bible of
To-day," "The Faith of Reason," and " Some Aspects of Religion " were among his earlier writings, but
the work which attained the greatest celebrity and roused the fiercest discussion was " The Man Jesus,"
which appeared in 1881. It is his steadfast endeavor, both in his preaching and in his writing, to present
the ethical aspects of religion, disregarding theology and dogma. To him conduct is more than "three-
fourths of human life," and the relations of faith to conduct he has discussed in a book which came out
in the same year as " The Man Jesus," entitled " Belief and Life." One of his earliest publications was
a volume of poems ; among the more recent are " A Christmas Fantasy," and in 1885, " A Daring Faith."
Books are written to-day unconsciously.
Whoever devotes himself to intellectual pursuits
will find that his bo(jks have written themselves ;
while he lives and labors there will be an uninter-
rupted production of them. The annals of the
Brooklyn pulpit are replete with distinguished
names ; there is scarcely a clergyman but he is
in this sense an author too. Some listener is ever
ready to catch up his utterances as they fall and
gather them into a book ; sketches, magazine
articles, and the like gradually accumulate, divide
naturally into categories, and so crystallize into
books. In most works which arose in this way
the permanence of the literary form was not
originally contemplated. Upon productions of
this sort rests the claim of nearly every pastor
in Brooklyn to a place in the literary history of
our city, and the claim is a legitimate one ; their
works cover a vast and varied range of intellectual
activity. We are obliged, however, to select from
the embarrassing wealth three names, represent-
ing a literary range from the most scholarly to
the most popular. These are Dr. Storrs, Dr.
Cuyler, and Dr. Talmage.
The scholarly polish and profound thought
which characterize the orations and writings of
Rev. Dr. Richard S. Storrs have become sym-
bolized in his name. No great public and com-
memorative function was ever considered complete
Ephraim George Squier.
^62 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
unless graced by the dignity of his eloquence. No collection of his orations and addresses has yet been
made but several series of his lectures have appeared in book form. Ten lectures which he delivered
before the Union Theological Seminary and the Lowell Listitute on " The Divine Origin of Christianity "
were published in Boston, in 1880, and to this work belongs, perhaps, the highest place among all his
writings, both in pdint of erudition and literary finish. Dr. Storrs is himself a New Englander, and
considerable imjiortance was attached to his address before the New England Society in New York, in
1857, on the "Puritan Scheme of National Growth." His two superb orations in commemoration of
Lincoln, belong to the finest specimens of contemporary literature at that great crisis. The calm judicial
breadth of his mind was evinced in an address which caused much comment at the time on " The Attractions
of Romanism for Educated Protestants." The generous fairness of his tone called forth a graceful
acknowledgment from the greatest English defender of the Roman faith. Cardinal Newman. It is a matter
of regret that his numerous and invaluable contributions to literature have not yet received a permanent
and accessible form, but remain hidden away in pamphlets and newspapers. Such a wealth of wisdom as
is contained in his " iNLanliness in the Scholar" [1883J, and "Broader Range and Outlook of the Modern
College Training" [1887], ought to be made easily accessible to every thoughtful man that he might
re-read and ponder them.
Not less closely associated with the intellectual life of this city is the name of Rev. Dr. Theodore L.
Cuyler. His sermons and temperance tracts have penetrated to every quarter of this country, and even to
remote lands. The attractive titles of his very numerous books have become like the familiar names of
friends in thousands of homes throughout the land. " Stray Arrows," " The Empty Crib," " Heart Life,"
" Thought Hives," " Wayside Springs," " Pointed Papers," and in 1884 appeared a work of much pithy
wisdom, called " Right to the Point." Three years before Dr. Cuyler had published an account of his
travels, entitled " From the Nile to Norway." He has been an indefatigable contributor to the religious
press, and a large volume of his writings on miscellaneous religious topics has been compiled and translated
both into the Dutch and Swedish languages. His latest book, which appeared in 1S92, bears the title,
" Stirring the Eagle's Nest."
But the most prolific writer among the clergymen of Brooklyn, and, since the death of Spurgeon, prob-
ably the most widely known pulpit orator in the world, is Rev. Dr. T. DeVVitt Talmage. His distinction is that
of a popular lecturer, and his Sunday addresses, which he delivers to phenomenally large audiences, are
conceived in that spirit, enforcing practical and moral truth by homely and pregnant illustration. These
discourses are published weekly in nearly six hundred journals, both religious and secular, and are translated
into various languages ; and yet this constitutes but a small part of this man's wonderful activity. He is
the author of innumerable sketches, editorials, essays, and, we had almost said, innumerable books ; it
would certainly be inconvenient to give a complete catalogue of his writings here. Besides the many
volumes of his sermons, which are doubtless the best known productions of his pen, there should be
mentioned among the more successful works, " Crumbs Swept Up," " Around the Tea Table," " Every Day
Religion," and, more recently, " The Marriage Ring," 1886. Dr. Talmage is a constant writer for periodical
literature, and is himself the editor of The Christian Herald. His much discussed visit to the criminal
haunts of New York received literary expression in "Night Sides of City Life," 1878. It is within the
bounds of moderate statement to say that no living writer addresses both by voice and pen so vast an
audience weekly as does Dr. Talmage.
We have referred to another class of book producers whose volumes form themselves by a gradual and
natural process out of their contributions to magazines and other periodicals : articles which often were
written under stress of circumstances or to fit the exigency of some special occasion, but which neverthe-
less were infused with sufficieiit vital force to give them permanent value and render them worthy of pres-
ervation in the form of a book. To this vast army of magazine writers and journalists, workers in a field
for which this country is especially distinguished and in which she was the pioneer among the nations of
the earth, Brooklyn has contributed a large contingent. Early in this century one of Brooklyn's citizens
contributed an article to a New York daily paper, which was destined to become one of the historic jokes of
journalism. This was the account by Richard Adams Locke of the observations supposed to have been
made by Sir John Herschel, the younger, at the Cape of Good Hope, and contained, among other startling
revelations, an announcement of the discovery of the lunar inhabitants. The style was so plausible and
the account so circumstantial that not only the public, but many scientific men were deceived into a serious
discussion of it. 'I'his was the famous "Moon Hoax." It was reprinted in 1871. In the same year the
author died. He had written another but less successful hoax, called "The Lost Manuscript of Mungo
Park,"
John Flavel Mines was another prominent journalist of those early days. His poem, " The Heroes
of Lack Lustre," achieved considerable popularity in the ante-bellum times, and to lovers of literary loung-
ing he is still well known through his pleasing reminiscences, " A Tour around New York, by Felix Oldboy,"
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
7^3
now republished in book form [1892]. David M. Stone, the editor of the Journal of Commerce, is an old-time
resident of this city, although he is identified in his public interests with New York. One of the most
widely known newspaper men in this country is a native of Brooklyn, and was long connected with the
Brooklyn press, Joseph Howard, Jr., but he, too, has all his interests centred in the Metropolis. He has
published a graphic, readable and trustworthy life of Henry Ward Beecher. But it is not of these that we
can speak here, but only of those who are primarily makers of books.
For many years this city has been the home of the pioneer in the international copyright agitation,
and his repeated appeals to Congress in behalf of this important measure bore the stamp of high approval
in the names of Irving, Byrant and Bancroft. This was Frederick Saunders, a native of London, who came to
this country in his thirtieth year and remained here, engaged in literary work. He was at one time city editor
of The Evening Post, and subsequently assistant librarian and librarian of the Aster Library. He wrote a des-
criptive hand-book of London, which he called " Memoirs of the Great Metropolis." This and a similar book,
" New York in a Nut-
interest as records of the
half a century ago. From
known companion books,
and "Salad for the
passed through many
and in New York. He
same time, 1853, with
" The Homes of Ameri-
years that followed Mr.
number of books : " Mo-
Song," " About Women,
more recently, in 1887,
Famous Books," com-
much valuable informa-
play in a greater or less
of literary leisure which
books; all, too, have been
well as New York, and
passed through several
The international
augurated by Mr. Saun-
up and reinforced by the
leteer and economist,
In addition to his oner-
Bowker has made contri-
political economy, which
value ; of these are his
and Wealth," " Copy-
JOHN G. SAXK.
shell," are still of much
two great cities nearly
his pen too came the well-
" Salad for the Solitary"
Social." These books
editions, both in London
was engaged about the
Tuckerman in publishing
can Authors." In the
Saunders wrote a large
saics," " Festival of
Love, and Marriage," and
" The Story of some
bined with entertainment
tion. His works all dis-
degree that graceful style
characterize his " salad "
published in London as
many of them " have
editions.
copyright agitation, in-
ders, has been ably taken
accomplished pamph-
Richard Rogers Bowker.
ous editorial work, Mr.
butions to the science of
possess a permanent
treatises, " On Work
ritrht, its Law and Liter-
ature," and in 1886 " Economics for the People." His labors in this fruitful field continue unremitting.
On the roll of Brooklyn journalists the name of Mrs. Laura Carter Holloway-Langford occupies a
prominent place. She has devoted her whole life to literary pursuits, and the list of her works is a
long one. For twelve years she was on the editorial staff of the Eagle. Some of her books consist
of a collected series of articles, as " The Ladies of the White House " [1870] and " I'he Mothers of Great
Men and Women" [1884] ; others are general compilations, as "The Home in Poetry." In 1885 Mrs.
Langford published three works, of a biographical character, "Chinese Gordon," "Howard, the Christian
Hero," and "Adelaide Neilson." One of lier latest publications was 'entitled " The Buddhist Diet Book."
Some ten years ago she gave the public an interesting glimpse of the author of " Jane Eyre " in " An Hour
with Charlotte Bronte."
Foremost among the female poets and writers of verse occurs the name of Edna Dean Proctor, who
won her first laurels with a volume of poems which was published in Boston in 1866. In 1872 a series of
her descriptive poems appeared entitled " A Russian Journey." There is a strong and virile touch in
these, and a wealth of brilliant local color which give such scenes as the approach to Moscow a permanent
place in the memory. In a recent poem, " El Mahdi," she treats with vividness and sympathy of that most
dramatic incident of modern Egyptian history. Her war lyrics are abkize with the fire at which ardor and
enthusiasm are enkindled. The best known of her poems are probably " Heroes " and " By the Shenan-
doah." There is also in most of her verse a depth of religious fervor which reveals the source of much of
764
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
her best inspiration. In connection with the celebrations of 1892 she has written a commemorative ode
entitled " Columbus' Banner."
For many years past it has been our privilege to number among the residents of this city the poetess
and traveler, Mrs. Alice Wellington Rollins. Of her recent journeyings to Alaska and to Japan Mrs.
Rollins has given the public a charming account, but it is by her poems and other imaginative writings that
she is o-enerally known. "A Ring of Amethyst" appeared in 1878, and during the past decade we have
received from the work-shop of her fancy " The Story of a Ranch," " All Sorts of Children," and " The
Three Tetons."
In a humbler but not less attractive form of poetic expression Margaret Elizabeth Sangster, the editor
of Harper's " Young People," has distinguished herself. She is the author of several Sunday School books;
her " Poems of the Household " gained an extensive circulation, as did also a similar work which she pub-
lished four years later under the title, "Home Fairies and Heart Flowers." The most popular of all her
poems are the verses on " The Sin of Omission," " Are the Children at Home ?" and " Our Own."
The women of Brooklyn are also well represented in novelistic literature. It is unnecessary to do more
than mention the names of May Agnes Fleming and Laura Jean Libbey, whose extraordinary popularity is
a fact to which the booksellers will testify. Among those who deserve their success by the literary
quality of their work is Virginia Wales Johnson, who was born in this city in 1849. To Brooklyn, therefore,
as much as to any American city belongs the credit of her fame, for during a period of more than twenty
years she has made her home in Europe ; she resides at present in Florence. At the age of twenty-one she
achieved an instant success with her " Kettle Club " series. She has written since then during her pro-
longed sojourn abroad something more than fifteen novels. One of the most charming of these, attractive
too by reason of its local theme and playful fancy, is " The Catskill Fairies." The travesty of the American
girl with which Henry James has imposed upon Europe gave rise to a clever work by Virginia Johnson,
entitled "The English Daisy Miller." [1882.]
The most widely read of her writings are probably
"Joseph, the Jew " [1873], "The Neptune Vase"
[1881] and " The House of the Musician," but
beyond them all " The Calderwood Secret " [1875],
is most closely associated with her name. Others
of her novels are : " The Treasure Tower, a Tale
of Malta," " The Image of San Donato," The Terra
Cotta Bust " and " Two Old Cats."
With the element of secrets and mystery the
name of another Brooklyn woman is still more
prominently connected. Anna Katherine Green
was born here in 1846. Her novels are exclu-
sively detective stories and enjoy a wide popu-
larity. The first and most famous, " The Leaven-
worth Case," appeared in 1878 and won for the
young authoress universal applause. " A Strange
Disappearance," " The Sword of Damocles,"
"XYZ," " The Hand and Ring," "The Mill Mys-
tery," and " Seven to Twelve" followed in quick
succession almost year for year. In 1882 she
published a volume of poems, and in 1886 there
appeared a powerful dramatic poem from her pen,
bearing the title, " Risifi's Daughter." These have
been followed by : "Shall He Marry Her?" "The
Old Stone House," "A Matter of Millions," "The
Forsaken Inn," "Cynthia Wakeham's Money"
and " Behind Closed Doors."
„ . Of the younger generation Annie Sheldon
Coombs, who has lived m Brooklyn since she was a child, has won her way to prominence. Her first story
'«r "ru '". '^^^' "'^' ^'O'^nion Mortals." In the following year appeared "A Game of Chance," and in
18&9 1 he Garden of Armida."
1 wo familiar names must find a place here among the writers of fiction, although they wielded the pen
not in the interests of literary art solely but with an ulterior practical purpose. These are Marion Harland
and Helen Campbell. I he former, Mrs. Mary Terhune, began her literarv career in 1844, when only four-
teen years of age. At sixteen she wrote the sketch " Marrying through Prudential Motives," which had so
William Hamilton Gi
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
765
singular a history. It was reprinted in England and translated into French for a French journal ; it was
then translated back into English for an English magazine, and in this altered form it reappeared in this
coun ry. She was also editor for a time of " Babyland." In 1853 she wrote a novel which became very
popular; It was entitled "Alone" and portrayed the life and manners at the South. Several others of
her novels have had a marked success. They deal for the most part with domestic themes ; her love of the
home has led her to prepare a series of manuals on domestic economy, and in dealing with these problems
of housekeeping she has received important assistance from her daughter, Mrs. Herrick, the author of
" Housekeeping Made Easy." Mrs. Terhune has
had an extensive experience as editor of depart-
ments in " Wide Awake " and " St. Nicholas." ' -■
Helen Campbell also entered upon the field
of letters at an early age, and like Marion Har-
land has always been eager to inculcate the prin-
ciples of common sense in matters of domestic
management. But the energy with which she
attacked the problem of the poor in our great
cities deserves special recognition. In 1886 she
began a series of papers in the JVew York Tribune
on the working women of New York. Four years
before she had made public her valuable experi-
ence in a book called " The Problem of the Poor."
During the brilliant but short-lived career of the
" Continent " Helen Campbell was its literary edi-
tor. Her popularity was established by the "Ains-
lee Series," followed by " Six Sinners " [1878],
" Unto the Third and Fourth Generation" [1880J,
" The What-to-do Club " [1884], and many others
whose titles afford an evidence of the serious pur-
pose that underlies them all and to which the
purely artistic element is subordinated But they
are full of interest and not without traces of the
wit and pathos which dwell side by side with
misery, crime and suffering in those conditions of
modern society of which she treats.
Not the least gifted and certainly among the
most attractive of our writers of fiction are those
who have devoted themselves to the rational amusement of the young. Foremost among these, though it
is perhaps hardly warrantable to classify her as a writer of fiction solely, is Olive Thorne Miller. This lady
came to Brooklyn in 1877, bringing her fame with her as the author of juvenile works and natural history
books for the young. The best evidence of her excellent qualifications for imparting instruction in the
most delightful manner is found in the collection of her scattered papers to which she gave the name
of " Little Folks in Feather and Fur " [1S74]. Her second book too has spread joy broadcast among the
children and was reprinted from the serials which had appeared in "St. Nicholas" in 1880, entitled
" Nimpo's Troubles." To these have since been added in a similar strain of playful didactics " Queer Pets
at Marcy's " and ' Little People of Asia." Hers is an inimitable delicacy and childlike grace of touch.
If we introduce the name of Edward Eggleston at this point, it is partly because some of his most
charming books have been designed to combine entertainment with instruction in writing for the young ;
in this he has received invaluable assistance from his gifted daughters. Mrs. Lillie Eggleston Seelye pub-
lished in collaboration with her father that delightful series of biographies for young readers which have
for their theme the lives of celebrated Indian chiefs : " Tecumseh and the Shawnee Prophet," " Brant and
Red Jacket," " Pocahontas and Powhatan," " Montezuma and the Conquest of Mexico " have already fired
the imagination of many an American lad. This year [1893], a similar series has been inaugurated under
the general title " Delights of History." Illustrations by Miss Allegra Eggleston will add to the beauty of
this series which begins appropriately to this season of celebration with " The Story of Columbus."
Early in life Edward Eggleston became the friend of the rising generation through his " Round Table
Stories " which he contributed to the " Little Corporal." His papers in the Independent were eagerly looked
for a quarter of a century ago, where they were published over the signature of the " Pen Holder," For
five years he was pastor of the " Church of Christian Endeavor " in Brooklyn and succeeded in establishing
the organization of that name which has now grown to such colossal proportions. But failing health sent
John W. Chadwick.
766
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
James Carson Brevoort.
him back to the quieter pursuits of literature. Of
the many novels depicting local conditions in the
various sections of this broad land, his are among
the most popular. They are wonderfully vivid
pictures of life in his native State of Indiana. The
best known of his books in this vein are " The
Hoosier Schoolmaster," which he published in
1871. Twelve years after came "The Hoosier
School Boy." To the same unique category be-
long " The End of the World," " The Mystery
of Indianapolisville," and " The Circuit Rider,"
though these do not complete the list of his con-
tributions to fiction. Nearly all of these books
have been reprinted in England and several have
been translated into other languages. His " His-
tory of Life in the United States" began to appear
chapterwise in " The Century."
George Cary Eggleston, a brother of Edward,
is likewise the author of a number of popular
works. Engaged in Brooklyn and New York jour-
nalism since 1870, in the intervals of his special
duties he found time not only to make regular
contributions to the magazines, but also to write
a series of entertaining stories of American life,
such as " Captain Sam," " The Big Brother," " The
Signal Boys," and many others. Something in the
manner of his brother's American Indian series
is " Red Eagle and the War with the Creek In-
dians," history touched with imagination ; his
" Strange Stories from History " is conceived in a like spirit. Mr. Eggleston had served in the Con-
federate Army and his experiences are recorded in a kindly and entertaining vein in "A Rebel's Recollec-
tions." Two works of a practical turn, though among the earliest of his writings, are )'et the outcome of a
varied personal e.xperience : "How to Educate Yourself," and " How to Make a Living." He has further-
more performed a real service to American scholars by editing for this country Haydn's " Dictionary of
Dates."
Another Brooklyn family has, like the Egglestons, attained literary distinction through both sons and
daughters, the Conants. Thomas Jefferson Conant, who after several years of study in Germany, settled in
this city in 1857, was the greatest Hebraist of his time. Besides rendering scholarship an important
service in editing with philological and critical apparatus the Hebrew te.xts of a number of Old Testament
books, he prepared a Hebrew Grammar wiiich is accepted both in England and America as the standard
text-book. He was also connected with the revision of the authorized version. In line with this work his
wife wrote a "Popular History of English Bible Translation." Translations of Neander's Commentaries and
of a number of the writings of Strauss are also from the pen of Mrs. Conant. Their son Samuel Stillman
Conant was engaged in newspaper work, and from 1869 until his mysterious disappearance in 1885 was the
managing editor of Harper s Weekly. We have by him an excellent translation of Lermontoff's " Circassian
Boy." His wife, Helen Conant, is a frequent contributor to magazines and has written a clever little book
called " Butterfly Hunters," She has also prepared two primers of German and of Spanish literature, which
are models of their kintl.
In the department of the historical novel Brooklyn may claim as her own son one of the most eminent
representatives. Edwin Lasetter Bynner was born in this city in 1842. After practising law for many
years, in 1886 he abandoned the bar f(jr literature. His historical novels are among the most admirable we
possess from the pen of an American. When he wrote the books which gained him his first successes,
"Nimport" and "Penelope's Suitors," he was still engaged in his profession ; the first fruit of his literary
leisure was " Agnes Surriage ; " most admirable of all his efforts is " The Begum's Daughter." A new his-
torical ncn-el, just announced [1892], bears the title " Zachary Phips," and gives the pleasing promise that
much is yet to be expected from tiie same inspired source.
It is ni)t quite warrantable perhaps to count among Brooklyn's literati the famous author of " Don't,"
but the name of Oliver Bell ISiince is nevertheless in many ways associated with this city, which was for a
time his place of residence. The phenomenal sale of " Don't," amounting to more than 85,000 copies in the
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
767
United States besides the English editions, has given Mr. Bunce's name its widest renown, but his real
claim to literary distinction rests upon quite other foundations. His social and literary essays, " A
Bachelor's Story," " Bachelor Bluff," his romantic drama of " Marco Bozzaris," which was successfully
produced in New York in 1849 and a novel entitled " Timias Terrystone," are among his more important
labors in the world of letters. Most interesting of all, however, are the two works on subjects furnished by
the American Revolution ; "The Romance of the Revolution" is based upon actual incidents of the war for
independence; it was written in 1852 ; the other work is the unique play, " Love in '76," which enjoys the
distinction of being the only parlor comedy of the Revolution in our literature. Mr. Bunce died in New
York city in 1890.
The incongruity of placing the name of the leading mining authority in this country on the list of our
novel writers has irresistible attractions for us. As well here, indeed, as anywhere, for the versatility of
Dr. Rossiter W. Raymond defies classification. Although Dr. Raymond's birthplace was Cincinnati, his
renown belongs to Brooklyn, with whose history he and his family have long been identified. He is one of
the most distinguished alumni of the Polytechnic Institute, where his father was formerly professor of
English. It is not the place here to follow the
steps by which he mounted to his present acknowl-
edged position of supreme authority in mining
engineering. Nor do his numerous and standard
works on this and cognate subjects require enu-
meration here, but they make it all the more re-
markable that we have to record as his earliest
publication a translation into the German of Mrs.
John C. Fremont's " Story of the Guard," which
came out in 1863 under the name of "Die Leib-
garde." Ten years later appeared a novel from
the intervals of what seemed unremitting scientific
labors; it bore the title, " Brave Hearts." About
the same time he published a collection of stories
called "The Man in the Moon and Other People."
On the list of his works we find also " The Chil-
dren's Week " and " The Merry Go-Round." He
has written a treatise on " The Book of Job," and
in "Camp and Cabin ' [1880] he has drawn upon
his rich fund of experience gathered during his
many professional tours in the western country.
Several standard collections of American poetry
contain specimens of his work in that line, but
he has never collected into a volume his fugitive
verses.
Quite as interesting and scarcely less versatile
has been the life of another of Brooklyn's citizens
to whom the city owes a large and unpaid debt of
gratitude — Gabriel Harrison. He was born in
Philadelphia in 1825, but his father, a man of classical education and broad culture, brought him to New York
at an early age, where their home was the resort of artists and literary men for many years. It was Edwin
Forrest's acting that first inspired young Harrison with a passion for dramatic art. He went on the stage,
and during the Shakespearian revival about half a century ago he was the favorite support of Charles Kean.
In 185 1 he organized the Brooklyn Dramatic Academy, and to him we owe the Park Theatre, which he
established here in 1863. It was he, too, who brought the first English Opera troupe to this city. But his
ideals were too high to admit of financial success ; he retired from the profession and devoted himself to
art He rendered the Brooklyn Academy of Design invaluable service, and brought the free art schools to
a point of great prosperity. To him as organizer of the Faust Club we owe the bust of John Howard
Payne in Prospect Park. And from his studio we have several portraits of his friend and idol, Edwin
Forrest, and many a pleasing landscape.
But his title to literary honors may be read in the authorship of various plays, such as the tragedy of
" Melanthia " and the very successful dramatization of Hawthorne's " Scarlet Letter." Others of his plays
are "The Author " " Dartmore," "The Thirteenth Chime" and " Magna." He also adapted for the Eng-
lish stage Schiller's " Fiesko " and "Don Carlos." A critical essay from his pen on forrest's acting is
contained in Alger's life of that actor. Mr. Harrison's contributions lo current literature, both in prose
Alden J. Spooner.
768
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
and verse, have been very numerous. The most valuable of his works, however, are the exhaustive
"Life of [ohn Howard Payne" [1873J. Mr. Harrison is still among us, broken in health, but yet active
in teaching-, loved and honored by all who can be touched by the spectacle of persistent adherence to lofty
aims and high ideals, even through illness and misfortune.
An artist who became an author because some of the secrets of nature which his pencil illustrated
were known to him alone, and could not be written of by others, is William Hamilton Gibson, a native and
life-long resident of Brooklyn. Having begun to write, he found that the poet of the pen was in him as
well as the art of sympathetic interpretation with the brush, and he has produced a series of delightful
books in which the vari(.)us moods of nature are depicted with unquestionable skill and rare fidelity, both
text and illustrations from his own hand. The first of these was " Pastoral Days : or Memories of a New
England Year " [iSSi]. It was followed by " Highways and By-ways " [1883], " Happy Hunting Grounds:
A Tribute to the Woods and Fields" [1SS7], and "Strolls by Starlight and Sunshine" [1891J. His latest
book, "Sharp Eyes," which was a holiday favorite in 1S91-2, attained a phenomenal popularity. In 1887
he edited, contributing a considerable portion of the te.xt and all the illustrations, "The Master of the
Gunnery," a pupil's tribute to the late Frederick W. Gunn of the famous Gunnery school in Washington,
Conn., which furnished also many of the subjects for his "Pastoral Days."
Early in this century the citizens of Brooklyn began to interest themselves in matters of local history
and antiquarian research. Gabriel Furman, the ill-starred young lawyer, who was born here in 1800, and died
before his culture and refined taste had reached fruition, was the pioneer. The fascinations of literature
and antiquarian studies drew him away from law and politics in which he was on the road to distinction, and
his historical researches have been of inestimable service to later historians. His MSS. " Notes " are dated
1824 ; this fragmentary record of our beginnings is an evidence of his prophetic sagacity, but his work was
brought to a premature and clouded end by his death in the Brooklyn City Hospital. Many years later, in
1865, Mr. Alden J. Spooner published Furman's book under the title : " Notes, Geographical and Historical,
relating to the Town of Brooklyn." In the same year Mr. Spooner edited Silas Wood's " Sketch of the
First Settlement of the Several Towns on Long Island." Mr. Spooner was himself the author of a number
of historical monographs on kindred topics; among them are "The Dominie's Ride to the Devil" and
"The Last of the Leather Breeches," which contain faithful descriptions of early local conditions on this
island. The cultivation of this kind of work caused him to recognize the utility of an organization to fur-
ther such investigations, and he thus became the originator of the Long Island Historical Society, to
which he gave as the nucleus for a library a collec-
tion of about one thousand books and pamphlets,
which his father, the founder of the " Long Island
Star," had brought together. Mr. Spooner was
engaged upon a " History of Long Island," when
he died in 1881.
General Jeremiah Johnson, in his day " Brook-
lyn's first and foremost citizen," likewise preserved
many valuable reminiscences of early Brooklyn in
a fragmentary form similar to Furman's " Notes."
These comprise historical items concerning the
settlement of Williamsburgh, Bushwick and Long
Island generally, together with accounts of some
of the oldest families. 'I'he General made no
literary pretensions, but among his papers were
found numerous interesting essays on varied
topics, even poems, and translations from Eras-
mus and others. His accurate knowledge of the
language of his fathers is evinced in his excellent
translation of Von der Donk's " History of New
Netherland," to which Mr. Thompson, in his
" History of Long Island," accords the highest
praise.
It has been no unusual thing for our promi-
nent citizens to interest themselves in local history
and to contribute to the advancement of these
studies. Of this group of distinguished Brooklyn-
ites was Henry C. Murphy, who edited for the
Long Island Historical Society the Labadist Henrv r. stiles.
^ ^ ^
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
769
JJANiEL M, TREDWELL.
travelers' " Journal of a Voyage to New York.'
He published also " Henry Hudson in Holland"
[1859] and the" Voyage of Verrazano" [1875]. Mr.
Murphy was active in furthering every great educa-
tional enterprise in this city ; in the early days of
the Hamilton Literary Association, it was he who
inaugurated the lecture courses out of which grew
the Brooklyn Lyceum. He also assisted in found-
ing the Brooklyn Library. He was a frequent
contributor to the North American Review, the
Atlantic Monthly, The Historical Magazine, and
edited the Eagle in the beginning. He was one
of the vital forces in the intellectual as well as
the public life of the city.
The late Thomas W. Field contributed to
Brooklyn chronicles a " History of the Battle of
Long Island," published under the auspices of the
Long Island Historical Society, and " Historic and
Antiquarian Scenes in Brooklyn and Vicinity."
His most important work was "An Essay Towards
an Indian Bibliography," which in its day was the
only work on its subject and still holds high rank.
To this class of men belongs also Mr. Teunis
G. Bergen, who furnished the historical articles
on Long Island for the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
He was author of a genealogy of the Lefferts
family, also of the Bergen family. But of all the
books that have been written in this field of
authorship "The Social History of Flatbush," by Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt, is the most delightful; it
has a literary charm beyond its mere personal and local interest, which e.xplains why several editions have
already been demanded.
Easily foremost, however, among local historians is the indefatigable investigator and painstaking com-
piler Henry R. Stiles, whose crowning work for which the citizens of Brooklyn owe him a lasting debt of
gratitude, is his exhaustive and monumental History of this city. The first volume of this work came out
in 1867, the second in 1869, and in the following year a third volume completed his task. He has done his
work so thoroughly that to future historians is left only the labor of continuing it up to date. He was
also one of the founders of the Long Island Historical Society, and the author of several genealogical
and antiquarian publications. Ur. Stiles wrote also an " Account of the Interment of the Remains of
American Patriots who Perished on Prison Ships, etc.; also Letters from Prison Ships" [2 vols., 1865]; a
biographical sketch of Gabriel Furman ; " Bundling : its Origin " [1869] ; " Genealogy of the Stiles Family "
[1863] ; and "History of Kings County" [1885].
The most valuable copy of Stiles' " History of the City of Brooklyn " is in the possession of Mr.
Daniel M. Tredwell, the well-known bibliophile and author of "A Plea for Bibliomania," "Literature of
the Civil War," " Life of ApoUonius of Tyana," " Lace as a Fine Art " and other works ; but the most con-
siderable of his works is " Nomads of the Sea," yet unpublished but now ready for the press. Mr. Tredwell
has illustrated Stiles' " History of Brooklyn" and extended his copy to nine volumes, so that it includes a
vast quantity of unique and invaluable matter in the shape of original drawings, portraits, and rare prints
of old historic landmarks. It is to the courtesy of Mr. Tredwell, who has generously placed at our dis-
posal all this material, most of it inaccessible elsewhere, that we owe our ability to include in this volume
many of its most interesting illustrations. These are credited to Mr. Tredwell's collection in the proper
place. They are the result of thirty years' gathering from the print shops and publishers' early proofs.
To historical investigations of a wider scope another prominent citizen of Brooklyn, Mr. James Carson
Brevoort, brought all the resources of a finely trained mind, broadened by extensive travels. Mr. Brevoort
was private secretary of Washington Irving when the latter was United States Minister to Spain. For ten
years he was president of the Long Island Historical Society and the honored member of many other
literary and scientific societies. He was an enthusiastic collector of books, especially of Americana, of
which he inherited some 6,000 volumes from his father. His library eventually increased to 100,000 rare and
costly books ; since his death the library has been sold and dispersed. He is the author of numerous his-
torical monographs : two are of special importance, an article in the Historical Magazine on the "Discovery
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
of Columbus' Remains " and a work which Mr. Brevoort published in 1874, entitled " Notes on Giovanni de
Verrazano and on a Planisphere of 1529, illustrating his Voyage of 1524." In the revival of interest in
these subjects incidental to the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus' discovery Mr. Brevoort's labors
are receiving renewed recognition.
In the annals of historical authorship in Brooklyn appears also the name of Linus Pierpont Brockett,
well known in newspaper circles in this city. Mr. Brockett is the author of nearly f^fty volumes on
geographical, biographical, historical, religious, social, and literary subjects. Among these is a " History
of Education ;" his history of the Franco-German war appeared under the title of "The Year of Battle."
Conjointly with Smucker he wrote a " History of the Civil War," with Mrs. Vaughan a book on " Woman's
Work in the Civil War," and collaborated with Dr. Stiles on his " History of Kings County."
But the historian in whom Brooklyn takes the greatest pride is John Bach MacMaster, who was born in
this city in 1852. Since he attained his majority he has steadfastly devoted himself to one supreme purpose:
his " History of the People of the United States," for which he had begun to gather materials in his eigh-
teenth year. In 1883 he was called to fill the chair of American History at the University of Pennsylvania^
and in the same year he published the first volume of his great work, covering the period from the Revolution
down to the Civil War. This achieved instantaneous success and sufficed to place Prof. MacMaster in the
front rank of American historians. Besides laboring industriously towards the completion of this monu-
mental work, he has written the " Life of Benjamin Franklin " for the Men of Letter Series [1887].
Ephraim George Squier has made invaluable contributions to history and ethnology in a remote and
less worked field. His Peruvian investigations especially, and his historical treatises on other South
American lands are indispensable to the student. Mr. Squier was born at Bethlehem, N. Y., on June 17,
1821, and in Brooklyn, where he resided during the later years of his life, he died on April 17, 1888. He
began as a journalist, and his first important historical work was a treatise, in the first volume of the
" Smithsonian Contributions," on the ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley ; he conducted similar
investigations in New York State. In 1849 he was appointed Special Charge d'Affaires to all the Central
American States ; this gave his talents and training their proper channel ; he visited South America several
times, and in 1S68 was appointed consul-general of Honduras. Five years before he held the post of United
States Commissioner to Peru ; his investigations took form in what is probably his most valuable work,
"Peru: Incidents and E.xplorations in the Land of the Incas " [1877]. His strength to pursue original
research became seriously impaired in 1874 and he devoted the rest of his life to organizing his knowledge
and publishing results. He was a contributor to many magazines and to the " Encyclopaedia Brittanica."
Among his numerous works are to be noted : " Nicaragua : its People, Scenery, and Monuments ;" " Notes
on Central America," " Serpent Symbols," and " Waikua : or Adventures on the Mosquito Shore."
Scholars are deriving further assistance towards a better knowledge of the early history of our govern-
ment through the work which is being done within the lifnits of the city by the Ford brothers. The late
Gordon L. Ford, for years one of our leading citizens, and his wife, Emily Ellsworth Ford, the author of
many stories and essays and of a volume of poems, entitled " My Recreations," created the literary atmos-
phere at home, in which their two sons, Worthington Chauncey and Paul Leicester Ford, are now prosecuting
their labors. Their work is referred to in detail elsewhere.
We have had occasion in the course of this sketch to mention several poetesses and writers of verse,
but we have reserved till now the names of the three poets, who among all the bards whom this city has at
one time or another harbored, are the best known to fame ; these are the ballad singer, Will Carleton ; the
satirist, John G. Sa.xe, and the poet of democracy, Walt. Whitman, To the high title of poet, each of these
men in a different degree possesses an indisputable claim.
More widely read than either of the others is, doubtless. Will Carleton, though his popularity is necessarily
of a different quality. He was born in Michigan in 1845, and has spent several years of his life in lecturing
in Great Britain and Canada as well as in the LTnited States, but long ago he chose Brooklyn for his home.
His first effort in verse was published in 1S71, but it was not until his " Farm Ballads" appeared that his
name became, as it is to-day, familiar to every American ear. That volume was succeeded by one in a
similar vein, " Farm Legends," which met with an equally gratifying reception. Appropriate to the season
came " The Young Folks' Centennial Rhymes," in 1876. "City Ballads " and " City Legends " have since
been added to the list. y\s the ballad singer of domestic life Will Carleton is almost without a rival in the
hearts of the people.
John G. Sa.xe, in his old-fashioned house gown and slippers, which upon occasion he did not hesitate to
wear on the street, was long a familiar figure to Brooklynites. He was born in Vermont in i8i6,and practised
law there ; he became y\ttorney-General of the State, and was once defeated as candidate for the governor-
ship. At different times throughout his life he was engaged in an editorial capacity on a number of journals.
His first poetical attempts were in the shape of some humorous verses published in the Knickerbocker Maga-
zine. Subsequently he contributed poems, in a similar vein, to Harper s and \.\i& Atlantic. In 1846 appeared
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
771
his first volume of collected poems, to which he gave the title, " Progress." These, too, were humorous and
satirical, and were favorably received. "The Money King and Other Poems" came out in ,866 when the
poet s fame was already firmly established. His verse found its way everywhere, and m the years that
followed there appeared one collection after another until 1875, when " Leisure Day Rhymes" closed the
rich catalogue of his poetry. Sa.xe died in Albany in 1887. He was primarily a satirist, but his homely
good sense and uniform kindliness tempered his wit, and his was a satire that sympathized with that which
It scourged. What a note of genuine sympathy is mingled with the fun of " The Briefless Barrister '
side by side with his hu-
many a serious and pa-
a deeper chord; who is
The Miller," " Treasures
Church Bell," and the
" I'm Growing Old ?" The
ous poems are, probably,
and " The Proud Miss
never abandons him even
moments. And indeed
themselves one often
note of sweet seriousness
combined with his unfail-
gives to his verse a pecu-
And now Walt Whit-
seem strange to find the
poet," so long associated
Delaware, placed here
roundings in Brooklyn,
were once as familiar to
of ample hills was mine,"
death will have recalled
ces of his life, and remind
early years of struggle
Walt Whitman was
Island, in 1819, and ob-
tion at the public schools
He early began to indulge
even in those days of
Walt Whitman.
And
morous verse there is
thetic poem that strikes
not familiar with " Jerry,
in Heaven," "The Old
touching tenderness of
best known of his humor-
" The Rhyme of the Rail"
McBride." His good taste
in his most rollicking
in these humorous poems
detects an underlying
and sad reflection which,
ing felicity of phrase,
liar charm.
man. To some it will
name of the " good, gray
with the banks of the
among our familiar sur-
But these surroundings
him as to us. "Brooklyn
he sings, and his recent
to many the circumstan-
them that some of those
were passed in our midst,
born at West Hills, Long
tained his scanty educa-
of this city and New York,
his passion for literature
penury and want, and
wrote diligently for the Brooklyn newspapers. His connection with the Eagle has already been men-
tioned. At Huntington, L. I., he gained his first experience as editor and subsequently took charge of
a paper in New Orleans. In 1S55 appeared the famous "Leaves of Grass." During the war he served
with splendid devotion as an army nurse. The thoughts and feelings engendered by those stirring experi-
ences bore fruit in his " Drum Taps." Appended to these are his fervid tributes to Lincoln, and the lines,
where for once he falls into rhyme, " O ! Captain, my Captain I" have found an echo in many a patriotic
heart. He never fully recovered from the nervous strain which brought him low in 1864 ; but he never
ceased to commune with his fancy. In 1870 he published "Democratic Vistas." In 1874 he removed to
Camden, where he lived until the end, in March, 1892. His magnificent physique had long been crippled,
but his intellectual power remained unimpaired to the last. The exquisite lines with which he said
" Good-Bye, my Fancy " are equal in pathos and depth of pure strong feeling to any words with which
ever poet took leave of life. In the "Leaves of Grass" is a poem with the superscription, " Crossing
the Brooklyn Ferry." It is a stately assertion of kinship with all the future, with the unborn generations
which shall in the progress of the ages be touched as he is touched with deeper thoughts as they pass
between " mast-hemm'd Manhattan " and " the beautiful hills of Brooklyn." Just as you feel, when you
look on the river and sky, so I felt. " I loved well those cities, loved well the stately and rapid river."
Walt Whitman's place in literature is a disputed point in criticism. In him we have the singular para-
dox of a poet who is everywhere known as the poet of democracy, yet quite without a popular following.
It is from the eminence and not from the multitude of his admirers that we must draw the balance in his
favor. Emerson, Burroughs, and Stedman in America and, in England, the late Lord Tennyson, to name
one for all, have paid tribute to his high excellence. And so while there is much to be regretted in his
earlier writing, Walt Whitman has nevertheless left behind him such a body of fine poetry and so much
of enduring beauty, that our city should be proud that "Brooklyn of Ample Hills " was his.
772
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Herewith ends this cursory sketch of the literati of this city. If we should include, as strict justice
demands the learned and the cultured who in the quiet of their daily life spread a refining, stimulating
influence about them— if we should include, as justice likewise demands, the liberal and public spirited who
devote their enertjies and their fortunes to the furtherance of intellectual endeavor, this chapter would be
di-nified by many another worthy and distinguished name. We have restricted ourselves to the most
prominent among'those who worked through the written word. And even thus, though Brooklyn has never
been the centre'^of any distinctive literary movement, the great and well-known names that grace her
intellectual historv assure her an honorable place among the cities of the modern world.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
A library is one of the most important factors in the intellectual life of a city. The completeness of
the facilities it affords for study and research is the measure, in at least one of its dimensions, of the city's
culture It is a true saying that erudition consists less in the actual possession of memorized facts than in
the knowledi^e where to find them. The library contains the golden ore and the scholar holds the divining
The Long Island Historical Society.
rod. In its highest function, therefore, a library is a literary workshop where the materials for new books
are shapen anew and the learning of yesterday is made to-day's. Its aim is not merely to diffuse knowledge
actiuired of old, but also by the inspiration of its rich contents to augment the stock of the world's wisdom.
It is in this sense that a library forms so essential a part of the intellectual equipment of a community.
In this aspect of its literary life, Brooklyn likewise presents a proud record. The high excellence
attained by the Bkooklvn Library has made that institution familiar to all American scholars. It was
founded a generation ago by a band of enthusiastic and earnest young men who now are counted among
the elders of the city. The idea of establishing a new library originated with Lewis Roberts and
James P. Wallace as early as 1857 ; and in November of that year the first steps were taken. The principal
library of Brooklyn at that time consisted of only 4,000 volumes and belonged to the Atheneeum. This was
to form the nucleus, and with such energy was the enterprise inaugurated that in the short space of ten
days no less than si.K hundred signatures had been secured in support of the plan. A week later eight
hundred and twenty-six subscribers had created a fund amounting to $8,865. Mr. Roberts was elected
president and the Mercantile Library Association, its name being taken from the New York institution after
which it was modeled, became an accomplished fact. The reading-rooms in the Athenaeum were opened to
the public on May 7, 1S58. The president's report at the close of the first year records a membership of
1,511 and cash receipts amounting to over $14,000, of which $9,000 had been expended on books; the
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
773
Stephen B. Noyes.
number of volumes had been increased to 11,400. The association continued to make some progress even
during the war, when all the energies of the people were turned another way ; it obtained a cluirter and
was the recipient of a permanent book fund, known as the Gary fund. But it was during the administration
of President Woodruff that the greatest advance was made. The land on Montague street was bought
by individual members in the spring of 1S64, and the work of obtaining
subscriptions to pay for the site and erect a suitable building was begun
in earnest and with most creditable results. The services of Peter B.
Wight were secured as architect and in June, 1S67, ground was broken.
A year and a half later the building which is now become a landmark of,
the city stood completed. It has a frontage of seventy-five feet and is
three stories in height ; with the exception of a few offices on the ground
floor the entire edifice is devoted to the purposes of the library. The
rather sombre and earnest features of its gothic fafade are in harmony
with the serious character of the silent work that is carried on within its
walls. It was erected at a cost of $227,000 and when, (jn January 18, T869,
the building was opened to the public with appropriate ceremonies, the
committee was able to announce that
all but $20,000 had been paid ; before
the evening was over more than $12,000
of the deficit had been pledged. Inde-
pendently of the building fund, the sum
of $50,000 had been subscribed for the
purchase of books. Thus auspiciously the library began in its new home
a career of unexampled prosperity and usefulness which has made it one
of the most prominent institutions of the land. It is significant of its
growth and the widening of its scope that its name was changed by act
of legislature to the " Brooklyn Library." An excellent catalogue, com-
piled by the able librarian, the late S. B. Noyes, attracted attention the
world over among those who make a study of scientific library methods.
For several years after Mr. Noyes' death the assistant librarian acted in
his place, until in 1S88 he became in name as well as in fact the chief
librarian. This is W. A. Bardwell, to whose efficiency and ready affability
the students who use the library are constantly indebted for innumerable
favors. According to the annual report of the librarian for the year Willis a. Bardwell.
1892, Mr. Bardwell has in charge 113,251 volumes. The privileges of the institution are now enjoyed
by 2,856 members ; of these 561 are life members in addition to 282 permanent memberships.
Beside the Brooklyn Library there is one other focal point for scholars and investigators in this city,
and that is the reading room of the Lf)NG Island Historical Society. Its library consists at present of
about 45,000 volumes, many of which are extremely rare and valuable. It is a library for reference only;
the original plan was to make its resources as complete as possible in all that relates to the history of this
country, but its sphere has been so extended as to comprise the best books in every department of knowl-
edge. When the society was organized in 1863 eight hundred volumes and about one thousand pamphlets
formed the nucleus of the library ; this number was increased by 1,100 volumes from the defunct City
Library; at present, if pamphlets be included, there is a total of 100,000 numbers. Among its rare treasures
are the precious collection of works on Dutch history which were secured by Henry C^. Murphy when he
was United States minister at The Hague ; an original copy of Aububon's " Birds of America ;" the invalu-
able "Universal Palaeography" of Silvestre ; the "Cabinet du Roi," in forty-nine volumes ; the splendid
work of Baron Taylor in twenty-seven folios, containing illustrations of scenery, architecture, and anti-
quities in France ; and the works of Lepsius and ChampoUion. Tliere is, besides, an excellent collec-
tion of American family genealogies and what is of especial local interest, one may here consult, in the
original, neat and lady-like handwriting, Gabriel Furman's " Notes on Brooklyn." The publications of the
Hakluyt Society are likewise to be found and many valuable unpublished manuscripts. The Long Island
Historical Society has issued four volumes which are of inestimable value to the student of American history.
Two of these relate to the Battle of Long Island, with a circumstantial account of that disastrous day ; the
first publication contained Mr. Murphy's translation of the " Labadists' Journal " from the Dutch manuscript,
and the fourth volume of the series contains the hitherto unpublished letters of George Washington on
agricultural and personal matters, edited by Moncure D. Conway in 18S9. The first librarian was the accom-
plished historian of Brooklyn, Dr. Henry R. Stiles. In 1865 he was succeeded by George Hannah, who
in 1889 resigned and gave place to the lady who at present occupies that position. Miss Emma Toedteberg.
774
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
On the the upper floor of the society building is the museum, which occupies the entire space. It is a
most interesting collection and attracts many visitors. The museum was begun early in the history of the
society and the objects collected formed for many years a part of what was to be seen in the main rooms
of the building formerly occupied by the society. The collection originated when at a meeting of the exe-
cutive committee of the society on June ii, 1864, a " committee on the natural history of Long Island was
appointed." The |nirpose of this committee was to gather from all parts of the island interesting historical
relics and specimens of the flora and fauna, minerals and antiquities. The sub-committee consisted of
Long Island Historical Society Museum.
J. Carson Brevoort, Henry E. Pierrepont, Professor Charles K. AVest and Charles Congdon, with Elias
Lewis, Jr., who was prime mover in the enterprise, as chairman. They devoted themselves assiduously to
the work of securing contributions from many sources, and the result of their work is the fine collection
now permanently on exhibition. It contains a fairly complete collection of the animals and plants of the
island, of specimens representing its geological formation, of Indian anticjuities and a great variety of other
objects of historical and scientific interest. The latter are arranged as far as possible apart from the local
collections, so that one may at will pursue scientific study or gratify his interest in what is old and per-
sonal. The various collections are attractively displayed in cases. The committee as a permanent part of
the organization was discontinued some years ago, but the work of extending the collection has been carried
on by Elias Lewis, Jr., at whose suggestion the work was undertaken and who for some years has been
the curator of the museum. Mr. Lewis was from the beginning mcjst active in perfecting this collection
and has given liberally of his time to the museum, to which he has added by personal gift many of its most
interesting features.
The Brooklyn Institute possessed, in connection with its various departments, a scientific collection
which was very badly damaged by the fire which broke out in the building in 1S90. A committee appointed
in 1880 organized a movement looking to the establishment of museums of art and science. The legislative
act of 189 1, authorizing the city to erect buildings for the use of the new Brooklyn Institute of Arts and
Sciences, provides for museum accommodations at a cost not to exceed $300,000. But it is still too early
to credit the city with any important museum other than that of the Long Island Historical Society.
The Brooklyn Library and that of the Historical Society are the only ones which properly may be classed
as "literary workshops," but there are also several other libraries which are to be counted as essential
factors of the city's literary life because of the culturing work they do among the people. Of these, the
Pratt Institute Library, the 30,000 volumes of which are free to all, ranks first. Its reading-room is utilized
as a study to some extent by the students of the institute, but in no such general fashion as are the two
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 775
libraries first named. Miss M. W. Plummer is its librarian. Tlie free circulating library of the Union for
Christian Work, at 67 and 69 Schermerhorn street, receives an appropriation from the city under the state
law providing for an allowance of $5,000 a year to libraries having 10,000 volumes and an annual circula-
tion of 75,000. This library has now 20,000 volumes and is doing excellent work. The Brooklyn Institute,
or "Youth's Free Library," as it was known, donated the greater part of its ij,ooo volumes to the Union
for Christian Work in the early part of 1892. This was in accordance with a decision of the trustees to
establish a purely scientific library in connection with the new Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.
The librarian of the Union for Christian Work is Miss Fanny Hull. The Eastern District Public School
Library, at South Third street, corner of Driggs avenue, contains 18,000 books for the use of residents as
well as for pupils of public school districts Nos. 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, 31, 23, 34 and 37; it is open to
the general public on Tuesdays and Fridays, from 4 to 6, and from 7 till 9 P. M. The librarian is A. D.
Stetson. The Long Island Free Library, of 568 Atlantic avenue, is the largest of the free libraries which
are independent of any institution. It receives its support from the directors and voluntary contributions,
and has thrived for a little over twelve years on the same site. It has about 8,000 volumes for circulation
and a commodious reading-room. Its work is of an unpretentious but essential ciiaracter among the masses.
The librarian is Charles L. Davis. There are, besides these, a number of smaller free libraries and reading-
rooms, most of them conducted as missions of some church, or other religious body, or by some charitable
society. There are also several excellent libraries which are not entirely free to the public, but the terms of
admission to which are such that any earnest student or visitor can gain access. Among these are those
of the Young Men's Christian Association, at 502 Fulton street, which has 11,000 volumes; the Law
Library, in the court house, for the use of the judges and members of the bar of the second judicial district;
and the library of the Medical Society of the County of Kings, at 356 Bridge street, which is for the use
of the medical profession generally.
PRIVATE LIBRARIES.
Of book-lovers and collectors of books Brooklyn has its full share. In some directions the bibliophiles
of this city are recognized as the leading authorities in the country. A few of the notable collections must
suffice for the purposes of the present work, and will illustrate the quality of the treasures of this kind that
are housed in Brooklyn.
The library of Norton Q. Pope is one of those ideally designed repositories for the priceless treasures
of literature, which are unfortunately none too common on our side of the Atlantic. Here, housed in a
spacious structure attached to the western wing of Mr. Pope's residence at 241 Park place, are more than
three thousand volumes, which have been collected by Mr. and Mrs. Pope with admirable judgment and at
great expense. They illustrate every period of English literature and printing from the days of block
letter down to the highest typographical perfection of the Victorian era. The collection is rich in priceless
examples of binding, rare and unique. Many of the books form thin volumes of perhaps twenty or twenty-
five pages each, and include only a single play or poem. Some of them, and particularly those bound by
Kaufmannand Michel, are ornate with the most exquisite of hand tooling and marquetry extant. Kaufmann,
who is a German engaged in business in London, has always been especially proficient in this style of
marquetry work, and Mr. Pope's library contains many of his best examples. So delicate and nicely adjusted
are the minute wooden fragments with which he forms the inside panels of his covers that his efforts bear all
the finish and artistic effect of the most minute and perfect mosaic. The bindings produced by such French-
men as Michel, David and Chambolle-Duru are possibly still more exquisite. An edition of Burns' poetical
and prose writings, published originally in six volumes at Edinburgh in 1877-78, has been extended by Mr.
Pope to thirteen volumes. The additions consist of manuscript letters and the rhyming epistles for which
Burns was famous, some correspondence of the poet's son, Gilbert ; the communications which passed
between Dr. Currie and Burns' family, relative to his last illness, and a multitude of etchings, engravings,
water color sketches and portraits, illustrative of Burns' literary productions. Inside the cover of the first
volume is a medallion-like excision, covered with glass and containing a lock from the dark brown tresses
of Deborah Davis, a Caledonian Amaryllis, who at one time reigned supreme in the affections of the poet.
These volumes also include some verses on the Galway election, the original manuscript of "It was a' for
our Rightfu' King" ; two autograph letters of Scott, and one of John Gibson Lockhart. Probably no other
example of grangerizing in the United States, and perhaps few in Europe, have produced such valuable
results Among Mr. Pope's treasures are the " Morte D'Arthur," printed by Caxton in 1485, and the only per-
fect copy extant ; " Gower Confessio," printed by Caxton in 1493, and one of the only five existnig copies :
"Contemplacyon and Meditacyon," printed by Wynkynde Worde; the four folios of Shakespeare, published
in 1623 1632 1664 and 1685 , Watson's " Passionate Centurie of Love ;" Thomas Middleton's " Honourable
Entertainment "printed in 1621, and the only known copy ; Spenser's " Fairie Queene," published 1590-96;
"James I's Poetical Exercises," 1591 ; Bacon's "Apology," .605; Bacon's "Advancement of Learmng,"
776
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
1605, and "Essa}'S," 1625; Walton's "Compleat Angler," first edition, 1653; Filson's "History of Ken-
tucke," with one of the only two known maps; " Purchas and his Pilgrimages," which has been perfected
by the introduction of a rare map of China ; and the original manuscript of the Dickens-Collins " Household
Words," first published in 1S92 in Harper s Weekly. Besides these and other treasures of almost equal
value, the library contains a missal, originally made for Charles VL of France, and more than four hundred
and seventy years old, and "The Field of the Cloth of Gold," a magnificently illustrated memorial of the
famous meeting between the kings of England and France. The bindings include an original Grolier, and
examples by Lortic, Cuzin, Hayday, Riviere, Charles Lew'is, and the famous Bedford binding on Rogers'
"Poems" and "Italy." Mr. Pope's library and other portions of his house are hung with a number of
superb paintings by Aieissonier, Vernet, Detaille, Bellecoeur, George Inness, Bastien Le Page, Rous-
seau, a peculiarly fine Roybet, Schreyer, ViUegas and other modern masters. Several of Benjamin Con-
stant's more important works are also in Mr. Pope's possession, including a portrait of Mrs. Pope.
From the law and from medicine, for both of which professions he was regularly qualified, Professor
Charles E. West turned his attention years ago to the higher education of women, wherein he achieved
marked success in mathematics and experimental physics and chemistry. When he came to Brooklyn, in i860,
he substituted the fine arts as the particular branch of instruction to which he devoted himself. His method
was to give lectures illustrated by pictures, and in his search for illustrative examples he gathered together
one of the most remarkable private collections of etchings, engravings, photographs and curios in existence.
In the collection are some of the rarest examples known, and in addition he has an extremely valuable
collection of rare books. Among these is the first mathematical treatise ever published. It is dated 1494
and i.s a work entitled " Sumnia de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportion et Propt)rtionalite," by Lucia Pacioli
di Borgo. There is in the same case a rare work on optics — " Oculus Artificiates," 1685, by R. P. F. Joanne
Zahn, a contemporary of Newton. I'he " Eras Osvvalda " or new theories of planetary physics, by Georgius
Purbachius, is a superb Leslie copy. He also has the Leipsic Aches (118 vols.) published in 1683, and in
one of these volumes he found the first article ever written on the differential calculus. There is an example
of fine printing in a Virgil turned out by the Baskerville printing office of Birmingham, England, in 1756,
with the Vatican codex and illustrations placed opposite the text. It belonged to John Wells, a noted
lawyer of New York some seventy or eighty years ago. The Sclavic Scriptures is another of his books,
also rare. It is a fac-simile copy of the original parchment (even the holes in the skin being skillfully
imitated) and is beautifully illuminated. It was printed by order of the Emperor of Russia, to be used at the
coronation of French Kings. There were only a hundred printed, eighty of which he kept for his own use
and the remainder he permitted to be sold. In the realm of art perhaps one of the leading treasures of the
Professor's library is Gilchrist's " Life of William Blake." It was in two octavo volumes, but the professor
has made it over into three large quarto volumes, the original pages being inlaid and 245 extra illustrations
being added. Forty original drawings of Blake Professor West loaned to the exhibition of the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts in 1891, and to an exhibition of the drawings and sketches of Turner, Gainsborough
and Blake given by Keppel & Co. in New York in 1892. His collection illustrative of Japanese art is
very large and inclusive, the objects ranging from sacred shrines and images down to the hats of priests
and articles used in worship. The collection includes enough material, all imported directly from Japan
places of worship, to furnish one temple complete, and give a separate shrine to all the seven leading gods
and several of the lesser ones. Ijronzes and carved wooden articles abound and there are many paintings.
He has also an immense number of studies for the microscope and a variety of stereopticon slides which it
would be impossible to duplicate. All these things make of his home at 76 Pierrepont street a veritable
museum illustrative of every age and phase of art.
The library collected by the late Gordon Leicester Ford is of such excellence and completeness as
to rise almost to the level of the great public libraries which, indeed, it surpasses in its special features.
Gordon L. Ford was long a familiar figure in Brooklyn. He was iwrn on December 16, 1823, in the town
of Lebanon, Conn., of sturdy New England stock. At the age of eleven years he came to New
York and entered the store of his uncle, Gordon Burnham. For nearly six years he served an appren-
ticeship under his uncle, attending for some months in 1836 an English and classical school kept by S.
Johnston at 554 Broadway, then well out of town; and in 1837, the Collegiate School, held by Forest &
Milligan at 115 Franklin street. In 1840 he was engaged to keep the books of the firm of Cook & Cutter,
the original house of H. B. Claflin & Company, at a salary of $300 a year. He next accepted a position in
the United States marshal's office, and m 1845 determined to study law and became a clerk in the office of
Alexander Gardiner, then an attorney of the New York Supreme Court. He was admitted to the New York
bar in 1850 and for more than twenty years was in active practice. He was one of the original members of
the Lawyers' Club of New York. His energy and business talent were soon recognized in his election to
the presidency of the New London, \\'illimantic and Palmer Railroad, to succeed the Hon. Thomas W.
Williams. This necessitated his removal to New London, where he remained until the road passed under a
778
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
new control, after which he came to Brooklyn, where he resided till his death. He was one of the founders
of the Brooklyn Art Association, and was its treasurer for many years, unselfishly giving time and means,
and carrying it through a period when its success was problematical. He was a director in the Academy
of Music from the beginning, and in the last years of his life, as chairman of the executive committee, he
was influential in framing the policy of that institution. In the Philharmonic and Long Island Historical
societies, in the Brooklyn Library, and in a number of similar ventures and in charitable undertakings, he
proved his sympathy and interest by advancing their welfare. What aid he gave was given without osten-
tation and often indirectly, and only his books show how extensive it was. Mr. Ford was a man of strong
political convictions. His early connection with the Quakers had turned him to abolitionism, and he was
a Republican from the foundation of that party. With Simeon B. Chittenden and others he established
the Union. In April, 1869, President Grant nominated him for the post of collector of internal revenue for
the third district. The president's choice was confirmed by the senate, and he held the office till 187 1,
when he was set aside because of his refusing to subscribe to the political fund, under dictation from the
party leaders. His affiliations still remained with the Republican party. He desired a reform of the
revenue system, and was opposed to the renomination of Grant, believing him to be responsible for the
drift of party mismanagement, though not directly participating in the profits accruing to the various
"rings" that had grown up under his protection. Mr. Ford thus became identified with the liberal Repub-
lican movement of 1872, attended the conference in April that led to the convention at Cincinnati in May,
went to that convention as a delegate, cast his vote and influence in favor of Charles Francis Adams, hoping
to reform the party from within, saw the defeat of his candidate and the nomination of Horace Greeley;
but not being able to endorse the action of the convention, retired from active participation in politics and
maintained an independent attitude. In 1873 he became the business manager of the New York Tribune,
and ably filled the responsible position for nearly nine years, after which, with the exception of a short
term as president of a local railroad, he held no other position of public importance. In 1854 Mr. Ford
married Emily Ellsworth Fowler, a granddaughter of Noah Webster, who survived him. He died on
November 14, 1891. Deeply interested as Mr. Ford was in Brooklyn's welfare, his claims for remembrance
must lie in another direction. He was one of the earliest of American autograph collectors, and was among
the first of a small number who realized the value and interest of a library of American historical writings.
For more than fifty years he was an ardent and patient collector, and was well known as such in Europe as
well as America. As a result, his collection of books and manuscripts is one of the largest and most valu-
able in the country, and few private collectors can show so extensive or specialized a library of Americana.
He opened this collection to students, and with a view to making the historical manuscripts public
property, established a Printing Club, in which his sons were associated. More than seventy volumes on
American history issued from this club before his death. He was one of the founders of the Hamilton Club
and of the New England Society, and was a member of the Lotus, Lawyers' and Reform clubs of New
York. The literary collections of Gordon Leicester Ford were left by will to his two sons, Worthington
Chauncey Ford and Paul Leicester Ford.
Worthington C. Ford was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., on February 16, 1858, was educated in Brooklyn
schools, and for some years was an attendant at the Polytechnic Institute. Entering Columbia College in
1875 he did not complete his course but entered into business in an insurance office. Under the influence
of David A. Wells, he studied finance and wrote for the Evening Post. He was secretary of the Brooklyn
Revenue Reform Club, of which Mr. Beecher was the president, and also he was secretary of the Society for
Political Education. In 18S0 he was called to the editorial staff of the New York Herald. A revenue
reformer, he was active in furthering the tariff reduction policy of the day, opposing the repeal of the
internal revenue ta.xes and favoring honest money. After the election of Mr. Cleveland he left the Herald
and was appointed chief of the bureau of statistics in the department of state under Secretary Bayard. His
taste for historical writing continued, and he gave assistance to many wishing to use the historical manu-
scripts owned and then kept under lock and key by the government ; he laid before the president a plan
for making these manuscripts public, which was warmly endorsed by President Cleveland, Secretary Bayard
and many leading writers on history. Resigning his office on the election of Mr. Harrison, Mr. Ford
remained in Washington for two years to complete his collection of the Washington writings, and returning
to Brooklyn joined with his father and brother in their schemes. He has published many works on eco-
nomic and social science. Among his issues are : " The Writings of George Washington," 14 vols. ; "Letters
of William Lee," 3 vols. ; " Spurious Letters Attributed to Washington," " Correspondence and Journals of
Samuel B. Webb," 3 vols.; "Letters of Joseph Jones," "Washington Wills," "The United States and Spain
in 1790," "Washington as an Employer and Importer of Labor," and many others. He was long a member
of the Hamilton Club, and is now a member of the Century and Reform clubs of New York and the Metro-
politan of Washington. In 1881 he was elected an honorary member of the Cobden Club, London, and in
1887 a corresponding member of the New York and Maryland Historical societies.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 779
Paul Leicester Ford was born in Brooklyn on March 23, 1865. Owing to early ill health his educa-
tion was almost wholly obtained from the books of his father's library, with the natural result of directing
his attention to the study of American history and bibliography, on which subjects he early began to write,
first for the newspapers and later in more permanent form. His earliest books were works on genealogy,
mostly relating to his own family or bibliographical lists. In 1886 he compiled " Bibliotheca Hamiltoniana,"
a list of editions of the Federalist, and a list of the treasury reports and circulars issued 1789-95. " List of
the Members of the Federal Convention of 1787," "Some Materials for a Bibliography of the Official
Publications of the Continental Congress," " Bibliography and Reference List of the History and Litera-
ture Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution," and " Pamphlets on the Constitution," were issued
in 1888, and the latter was supplemented in 1892 by a companion volume entitled : " Essays on the Consti-
tution." His most ambitious publications in 1889 were his " Franklin Bibliography " and his "Check List
of Bibliographies, Catalogues, Reference Lists and Lists of Authorities of American Books and Subjects ;"
but he also wrote pamphlet essays entitled, " Who was the Mother of Franklin's Son?" "Check List of
American Magazines Printed in the Eighteenth Century," and " List of Some Briefs in Appeal Causes," and
edited "Ideals of the Republic," a second edition of which was quickly issued as "Great Words of Great
Americans." In 1890 he edited " The Sayings of Poor Richard," " Partial Bibliography of the Writings of
the Members of the American Historical Association," a series of tractates entitled "Winnowings in Ameri-
can History," and wrote "The Origin, Purpose and Results of the Harrisburg Convention of 1788." Last
year he edited " Orderly Book of the Maryland Loyalists," and in the present year he contributed a chapter
to the " Memorial Volume of the Washington Centennial," and has edited " The Writings of Columbus."
After this he engaged in preparing editions of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, to be in ten volumes, and
of John Dickinson, to be in three volumes, as well as a number of minor volumes. In the last eight years
he has contributed to the Eagle and many reviews, magazines and other periodicals. Of the Library Journal
he has been editor since 1889. He is a member of the Long Island, New York, Pennsylvania and American
Historical societies, and of the Century, Grolier and Reform clubs of New York and the Metropolitan Club
of Washington, and holds or has held official positions in the New England Society, Hamilton Club, Tree
Planting and Fountain Society and New York Library Club.
LITERARY SOCIETIES.
Among existent organizations in the United States which are devoted solely to purposes of literary
culture but one can claim priority in point of age to the Franklin Literary Society, of this city. Early in
the autumn of 1864, at a gathering of young men in this city, a suggestion was made that an organization be
formed for the purpose of conducting debates on literary subjects. A subsequent meeting was held on
October 19, 1864, at the house of Mr. W. H. Spencer, at 151 Montague street. There were present James
H. Lightbody, Daniel Webster Talmadge, William H. Spencer, George J. Laighton, Rufus W. Powell, Ardon
K. Powell, Charles E. Talmadge, John E. Ketcham and Richard D. Jacques, the majority of whom are still
connected with the organization. The meeting resulted in the formation of the Franklin Club. James H.
Lightbody was the first president. In the following year the name was changed and the organization became
known as the Franklin Literary Society. Meetings were held during the first years of its existence in the
Rev. L. W. Hart's private school-room on the Heights, and at a later period in the chapel of the old Poly-
technic Institute on Livingston street, where the members debated various questions during the ne.xt eleven
years. In May, 1869, a charter of incorporation was obtained. From the Polytechnic Institute the society
transferred its home to a building on the corner of Clinton and Montague streets, and from there, on
October i, 1883, to the room which it now tenants on the second floor of the Hamilton building, at 44 Court
street, which was formerly used by the Hamilton Literary Association. The Franklin has increased slowly
but steadily in membership. It includes upon its rolls the names of many who are eminent in the social
and political life of the city. The Birthday of Benjamin Franklin is annually commemorated by a dinner,
which ranks among the most important events of the season, and its various reunions which have occurred
during the last few years have been notable by reason of their marked success.
The Bryant Literary Society was organized fifteen years ago by a few residents of Prospect
Heights. With the advent of a new board of officers about seven years ago, under the presidency of D. B.
Templeton, the character of the society was materially changed ; its distinctively literary activities were in
some measure discontinued and it became a factor in the musical and literary education of the public. The
membership rapidly increased to the limit of one thousand, and public entertainments were inaugurated at
which the best professional talent appeared. These have been continued until the present time. Under the
presidency of Charles L. Rickerson the Bryant first held its meetings in the large auditorium of the Young
Men's Christian Association. The society contains many representative Brooklynites. Artists, literary and
musical who have appeared at the public entertainments of the Bryant, unite in commendation of the
character of the audiences whom they have been called upon to face. The presidency of the society during
ySo THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
the List few years has been held in succession by A. S. Higgins, George A. Price, William J. Tate, Charles
P. Manney, James Matthews and C. A. Blauvelt. The membership fee is nominal and the lists are usually
filled to the limit.
There are between forty and forty-five other clubs and associations, some purely literary in their aims,
and others, including dramatic or musical work, often of a high character. The good effect of many of
these associations upon the intellectual life of the city is unquestionably very great.
The Cercle Parisien was organized exclusively for the study of the French language and literature.
It was established in the winter of i89i-'92 by a few jDeople with literary inclinations, most of the original
members being residents of WiUiamsburgh. It has now about twenty members, but it is largely informal in
its methods, and requires no official staff to conduct its affairs. Any business which directly affects its inter-
ests is submitted to an executive committee of five, of which Alexander Black, a prime factor in creating
the organization, is chairman. Meetings are held, on every alternate Saturday evening, at the homes of the
members.
AVith a limited number of members linked together by the most informal ties. The Tabard can scarcely
be termed an organization. It has no constitution, no by-laws and no officers. It is composed of a dozen
men, who have literary, artistic and musical tastes, and its list of members is made up both of Brooklynites
and residents of New York. Duffield Osborne, Howard Seely and Harry Rowe Shelley, all Brooklyn men,
were the prominent elements in its establishment. It began to exist about 1887, and since that time has
never sought to obtrude itself or its work upon public notice. The meetings of The Tabard, usually held on,
the first Wednesday in each month at the houses of the members, are devoted to the purposes of informal
discussion and criticism on literary, artistic or musical subjects.
For the last ten years JMrs. Mary J. Field, formerly a resident of Brooklyn, but now living in New
York, has lectured on literary subjects in this city before a class composed of women mpre or less prom-
inent in society. The class, which eventually assumed the title of Mrs. Field's Literary Club, now com-
prises about seventy-five members, and its meetings are held once a fortnight at private houses. At the
opening meeting in the autumn of every year some distinguished author or authoress is invited to address
the club on some literary subject or else to read selections from their own writings. One of the most
notable of these events was that which took place in the autumn of 1892, at the home of Sidney V. Lowell
on Columbia Heights, when Marion Crawford, the novelist, made his first public appearance in America.
The president of the club is Mrs. Mary J. Field.
ART EDUCATION, ART CLUBS AND ARTISTS.
In the fine arts, as in literature, the catholic spirit of the nineteenth century has almost obliterated the
old provincial lines, and the cosmopolitan character of modern life finds full expression in modern art.
When Brooklyn first became active in art matters the days of national and local schools were fast passing
away; and although the art production in this city is extensive and of a high order of excellence, there
never has been a Brooklyn art. On a later page is given a partial list of the distinguished and famous
names of artists who have lived and labored here, and who still live and labor, but this does not seem the
chief standpoint from which to judge the city's activity in the realm of art. These artists have worked
apart, and the credit they reflect upon their place of residence is individual. The city's enduring title to
rank among art producing centres should be sought primarily in the work which has been done here in the
department of art education. In the art schools of Brooklyn many hundreds of artists have received
instruction who have subsequently attained eminence elsewhere, though often their fame has ceased to be
associated with the city where the foundations of their success were laid. It is through these schools that
Brooklyn artists, as a body, have exercised their widest influence.
The first organization for imparting adequate instruction in art was founded something more than half
a century ago by the Brooklyn Institute, to which Augustus Graham bequeathed a sum of money for
that purpose. It accordingly bore the name of its benefactor, and the Graham Art School did noble
work in giving an earnestness of endeavor to the pursuit of art as a profession, and the free tuition there
afforded gave the first impulse to many a budding talent. It was one of the teachers in this school, Mr.
Hoskins, who in cooperation with the marine painter, Mr. Thompson, formed the short-lived Brooklyn Art
Union in 185 i. Only one exhibition was held ; the pictures were disposed of by lottery and Walt Whitman
delivered the address, but the legislature construed this method of fostering art as a form of gambling, and
suppressed the Art Union by special enactment.
The formation of the Ski:ich Club in 1857 marks the second important advance in the development
of a local interest in art. Even at that time Brooklyn was the home of many artists. Among the active
members of this club were F. A. Chapman, George Inness, Alonzo Chapped, John Williamson, Regis
Gignoux, James Dick, F. 1!. Carpenter and Rufus Wright ; besides J. B. Whittaker, J. G. Brown, J. M.
Falconer, Samuel Coleman, S. J. Guy and John A. Parker, who are still of Brooklyn. These artists formed
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 781
the Sketch Club, which soon reached a membership of about forty ; subjects were given out and sketches
prepared, which were displayed and criticised at the semi-monthly meetings. Original composition as well
as social intercourse was among the purposes of the club, and the benefits of mutual criticism and encour-
agement are surely obvious in the eminence reached in their profession by the members just named. Through
the exhibitions of this club the general public was first made aware of the existence of a large and active
art circle in this city. Such recognition is always the first great step toward success.
The importance of the last-named organization in the art annals of the city lies in the fact that it was
the origin of the Brooklyn Art Association. After an unusually successful exhibition in January, 1861,
the club held a meeting at which it decided to admit lay members ; the club adjourned as the Brooklyn Art
Association. The membership increased rapidly and the enterprise flourished ; it soon stood so high in
public favor that its receptions were arranged on a scale of considerable magnificence and became the most
brilliant events of the social season. The efforts of this association contributed largely to the phenomenal
success of the sanitary fair, in connection with which Mr. John M. Falconer gave an exhibition of engrav-
ings, which was the first of the kind ever held in the United States. In 1872 the association was in a posi-
tion to erect a building of its own, which has now become one of the permanent landmarks of the city.
But in the eagerness to secure this building the interests of the artists were subordinated ; the predominance
of the lay element and the unpopularity of certain of the officers wrought evil and a split occurred.
Some seceding members from the Sketch Club comprising, as is usual in such cases, the younger and
more progressive artists, established a rival institution in December, 1S66. This was the celebrated
Academy of Design. It was started on an educational basis, and by this means the important considera-
tion of art education was forced upon the Art Association itself. The leaders of this new enterprise were
H. Carmienke, Alonzo Chappell, J. B. Whittaker, Rufus Wright and William Hart ; Gabriel Harrison, too,
was one of its active supporters. This institution was controlled, as all such organizations should be,
exclusively by artists, and free instruction was offered to the young art students of Brooklyn. The history of
the academy is the most brilliant episode in the progress of art in this city. The classes were held at first
in the Halsey building, now known as the Arbuckle ; but accommodations were offered them in the Brooklyn
Institute, and the Ciraham Art School was consolidated with the academy, which undertook the free instruc-
tion of the other institute classes in lieu of rental. Some difficulty arose later with the trustees of the Insti-
tute, and the Academy of Design removed to the corner of Court and Joralemon streets. It was here that
it attained the height of its prosperity and fame; the life classes, an important desideratum in those days,
were among its most valuable features. The classes were taught by Rufus Wright, J. B. Whittaker, O. J.
Lay and L. Wilmarth. The department of architecture was under the direction of Rhue and Techritz, the
latter of whom was the designer of the court house. Among the artists of note who received instruction
in the academy may be mentioned Thomas Shields, Rae Smith, Delisser and Creyfields. This school
attracted attention far and wide ; committees came from Boston, St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York to
study its methods of teaching, and many of its distinctive features were adopted in the different cities. All
the expenses of the academy were defrayed by the artists themselves, and the wonderful success of this
noble enterprise is a gratifying instance of generous devotion greatly rewarded. But the reward did not
take a pecuniary shape. It was a constant drain upon the private resources of the artists as well as a strain
upon their energies ; they were paying seventy-five dollars apiece annually for the privilege of teaching two
hundred pupils six evenings in the week. An application was accordingly made to the city for an appro-
priation, and the sum of one thousand dollars was promised them ; but the Art Association, hearing of this,
made a counter claim, and through superior political influence secured the grant. The Academy of Design
was thus forced into a compromise with the hostile institution, and accepted the use of the basement in the
association building for its classes, but at the end of the term dissatisfaction arose over the management
of the funds, and the members again withdrew to their old home, where they adjourned sine die. So ended
in 1872 this sincere endeavor, and with it passed away one of the best-conducted art schools ever organized
in this country. The fine collection of casts which had passed from the Graham Art School into the hands
of the Academy of Design, was sold to the Adelphi Academy.
It is in the Adelphi Academy that the traditions of that time are still observed ; there Prof. Whit-
taker continues to make the old salutary influence felt which obtained in the days of the Academy of Design.
The art department is splendidly equipped under his direction, and an average of about one hundred and
twenty-five students receive special instruction there. It is one of the few schools where drawing is obliga-
tory as a part of a general education, and it is probably the only art school of its kind, except that of Yale,
where instruction is given in drawing from the living model. A large number of students from the school
have attained distinction in their profession, among whom should be named Eleanor Bannister, Shirley
Turner, W. E. Plympton, Harry Roseland, Hugh Eaton, Frank Boggs and Wilson Demeza.
The Polytechnic has also an excellent art department, which was organized and is still conducted
by Prof. Constantine Herzberg. The accommodations in the new building afford the amplest facilities for
the art classes and the drawing from casts, but the main excellence of the department lies in the thorough
course of instruction in perspective and mechanical drawing.
782 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
The youngest of the organizations for the teaching of art is also one of the largest and most completely
equipped in the city; this is the art school of the Pratt Institute. While all forms of artistic expression
here receive due attention, special prominence is given to industrial art and decoration. The primary aim
of the institution is to place the young student in a position to support himself in his profession. The
courses of instruction are accordingly more widely varied and at the same time more directly practical
than in the other schools.
The Brooklyn Art Association, in accordance with certain stipulations relating to exemption from
taxes, continues to maintain a free art school. This was for a time in a languishing condition, but it has
recently been reorganized. The Art Guild, which had its rooms in the association building, and where
Sartain and Whittaker once taught, has been merged into what is now called the BROOKLyN School of
Fine Arts of the Brooklyn Art Association. It occupies studios in the old Ovington Building, and
numbers about 1 20 students; the life classes are conducted by Shirlaw, Fitz and Rhind ; the antique by W. H.
Snyder and Joseph A. Boston. The Art Association itself enjoys great prosperity, and has a membership at
present of 410. Under its auspices lectures on the fine arts are given and the semi-annual receptions con-
tinue to be held. Whatever may have been its mistakes in the treatment of the artist members it has been
a powerful factor for good in disseminating a knowledge and appreciation of art in the city at large. One
of the historic events in our art annals was the great reception on March, 1872, when there was brought
together in its rooms the finest collection of American works of art, chronologically arranged, that has
ever been exhibited in this country.
The Rembrandt Club includes the most important art collectors and connoisseurs in the city in its
membership, and is first among the non-professional art clubs of Brooklyn. Its first informal meeting was
held at the house of Daniel M. Tredwell, at 22 Hanson place, on the i8th of March, 1880, when Messrs.
Henry T. Cox, W. W. Thomas, Mr. Northcote, Lewis D. Mason, Whitman W. Kenyon, D. M. Tredwell and
Frederick Tredwell discussed art subjects and the organization of an art club. At that meeting D. M.
Tredwell was chairman. Other meetings were subsequently held at Frederick Tredwell's book store
and the plans, constitution and by-laws considered, Under the name of " The Social Art Club " the society
organized in May of the same year at the residence of Mr. J. W. Stearns, 64 First place. The following
permanent officers were then elected : Henry T. Cox, president ; James M. Burt, vice-president ; L. D.
Mason, secretary ; and J. W. Stearns, treasurer. Mr. Tredwell's name has always been honored by the
club as the first of its founders, though he did not accept official responsibility after the preliminary meet-
ing. Upon his motion, at the meeting held in Hugh Boyd's house on the 24th of May, 1880, the name
was changed to that which the society now holds. Owing to the club's custom of meeting at the private
residences of its members the membership has of necessity been limited, its number not exceeding one
hundred. The membership, which includes nearly every Brooklyn collector of pictures, is full and at least
twenty-five applicants are generally awaiting a vacancy. In 1883 the club gave an exhibition of a loan
collection of paintings and etchings at the Art Association building. The collection comprised the finest
paintings ever exhibited in this country. Other exhibitions were given in 1886, 1888, and 1889. From
May 10, 1880, to May i, 1889, there were fifty-nine papers read before the club. Among the artists who
appeared as lecturers before the club were Smillie, Tracy, Inness, Van Ingen, Champney, Ritchie, Volkmer,
Millet, Gibson, Blashfield, Hopkinson Smith, Paul Rajon, Clarence Cook and others. Among the members
who have read essays before the club we find the names of Chadwick, Tredwell, Ritchie, West, Mathewson,
Healy, Hull, Ford and others. The Rembrandt drawing class instituted by the club for the promotion and
encouragement of art, in the drawing classes of our public schools, is worthy of high commendation. A
drawing class has also been organized in connection with the art department of the Brooklyn Institute.
In both of these departments the Rembrandt Club distributed prizes and medals to the most proficient
pupils. As a promoter of a love for art the club, in its public and private exhibitions of paintings, etchings
and other works of art and virtu, in the literature of the fifty-nine essays read before the club and its
guests and in the establishment and encouragement of art schools, has been of incalculable value to the
art-loving population of Brooklyn. Besides these the Rembrandt Club has given awards for the best finished
etched plates, and by public exhibitions, of which there have been four, at the Art Association rooms, has
aided in educating public taste and knowledge in art. The present officers of the club are : president,
John S. James ; vice-president, A. Augustus Healy ; secretary, Walter K. Paye ; treasurer, Joel W. Stearns ;
John B. Ladd, chairman executive committee.
The Brooklyn Art Club was established for the purpose of encouraging social intercourse among
local artists and of extending in every possible manner the interests of art and its devotees. Its organi-
zation was begun at a meeting held on December 10, 1879, at the house of W. H. Philip, 179 Madison street;
there were present on this occasion : F. A. Chapman, Alonzo Chappell, John A. Parker, Strafford Newmarch,
W, H. Philip, Carleton Wiggins, R. Bruce Crane, J. H. Cocks, W. H. Snyder, C. D. Hunt, J. B. Stearns, N.
A., and Calvin Rae Smith. Public art exhibitions were held semi-annually at first ; now they are events
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 783
of annual recurrence. The meetings of the Art Club took place for a long time at the residences of its
members, but of late years they have taken place in the directors' room of the Art Association building on
Montague street, where the exhibitions also are held. The club's first president was Junius B. Stearns,
N. A. It has more than eighty members at the present time, and its officers are : Fred J. Boston, presi-
dent ; Leonard Ochtman, vice-president ; Wedworth Wadsworth, secretary ; Frank Squier, treasurer.
As already stated, it is mainly through the work done in the cause of art education in Brooklyn that
one can obtain a just idea of the art life of the city as a whole. Yet the number and eminence of the
artists who have lived and worked here is so considerable as in some measure to account for the high
standard in art prevailing in this community. Even limiting the enumeration to those who have labored
among us in comparatively recent years, the names are many and notable. Of the artists no longer living
those familiar with the art history of the city will recall F. A. Chapman, Alonzo Chappell, John Williamson,
Regis Gignoux, J. H. Frothingham (a pupil of Gilbert Stuart), James L. Dick, H. Carmienke, O. J. Lay, R.
W. Hubbard, Strafford Newmarch, W. H. Philip, Junius B. Stearns, Walter Libhey, Robert Haskins, J. C.
Piatt, Henry Northcote, Matthew Wilson, J. C. Cass, Jesse Talbot, the Smiths — father and son — famous
painters of "marine portraits," and Charles Burt, the well-known engraver. Still living, though no longer
to be classed as Brooklynites, are George Inness, Samuel Coleman, J. G. Brown, William Hart, M. F. H.
DeHaas, F. B. Carpenter, R. Bruce Crane, Frank Boggs, Percy and Leon Moran, Leonard Ochtman, Calvin
Rae Smith, Stanley Middleton, Johannes Oertel, L. Wilmarth, Rufus Wright, Lionel Delissier, Richard
Creyfields, W. E. Plympton, Wilson Demeza, J. H. Cocks, Henry F. Darby. Brooklyn is yet the home of
John M. Falconer, J. M. Hart, J. B. AVhittaker, Carleton Wiggins, F. T. Lee Boyle, A. H. Ritchie, Wed-
worth Wadsworth, W. Hamilton Gibson, Warren Sheppard, James Northcote, W. H. Snyder, J. Carter
Beard, Prof. Constantine Hertzberg, Harry Roseland, Clinton Loveridge, S. S. Carr, Miss S. M. Barstow, Miss
M. A. Wood, Miss Cornelia Conant, Gabriel Harrison, Thomas Shields, Eleanor Bannister, Shirley Turner,
Hugh Eaton, Thomas M. Jensen, Albert D. Blashfield, J. Meredith Nugent, John A. Parker, August Laux,
Clark Crum, C. D. Hunt, Frederick J. Boston, Joseph Boston, Benjamin Lander, the etcher; the engravers,
Beckwith, E. J. Whitney and Thomas Johnson. The work of the sculptor H. K. Brown, who made the
statues of DeWitt Clinton in Green-Wood Cemetery, of Lincoln at the entrance to Prospect Park, and the
Washington in Union Square, New York, is significantly identified with Brooklyn.
James McDougal Hart studied painting under the direction of his brother William Hart, and enjoys
prominence as a landscape artist. He was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, on May 10, 1828, and was brought
to this country when three years old. After studying under his brother, he visited Europe in 1851 and
became a pupil of Schirmer in Dusseldorf. He became an A. N. A. in 1857, and an N. A. in 1859. His
works include many canvases of extraordinary merit. Among them are : " Morning in the Adirondacks,"
" Summer on the Bouquet River," " Summer Memory of Berkshire," " Autumn Woods," " Drove at the
Ford," "Through Dust Clouds," " At the Brookside," " In our Village " and " At the Watering Trough."
Wedworth Wadsworth, who easily stands in the front rank of American water color artists, was
born in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1846. His parents were of New England descent. He completed his education
at Yale College, where he was graduated in 1867. His artistic tastes developed early in life and were
assiduously cultivated, but it was not until 1884 that he turned his genius into professional channels.
He has devoted himself entirely to water color work, recognizing the fact, not hitherto a popular one, that
such a medium was capable of transmitting poetic expression with greater facility and truthfulness than
any other. His studies are made direct from nature, and he is as much of an idealist as circumstances will
permit. He has also won fame as an illustrator, and has used his pencil with effect in connection with the
works of Tennyson, Shakespeare, Cooper and others. For the past six years he has been secretary of the
Brooklyn Art Club. He belongs to the Salmagundi and the New York Water Color clubs, and is chairman
of the Brooklyn Institute's loan exhibitions. In 1890 Yale College gave him the honorary degree of Ph. B.
Carleton Wiggins, the cattle painter, was born at Monroe, Orange County, N. Y., in 1848. In 1859
his parents moved to Brooklyn, where Carleton was educated. During his thirteenth year he became a
clerk in the law office of Dukes & Sullivan, of New York. Remaining in that employ for two years, he next
found employment with the agent of the London & Liverpool Insurance Company. At the end of eighteen
months he became an art student at the New York Academy of Design and continued his studies under
the late Mr. Carmiencke and George Inness. At the age of twenty he opened a studio in New York, and
soon attained success as a landscape painter. In 1880 he went to Europe and studied in Paris and elsewhere
under the best masters, devoting himself almost exclusively to painting cattle and sheep. Some of his
more notable canvases are : "Edge of Forest, Barbizon," "Cattle in Landscape," "Evening at Grez," "On
the Road, " September Day," " Hillside near Fontainebleau," " October Morning," " Gathering Sea-Weed "
and " Summer Morning." Mr. Wiggins is an associate of the National Academy of Design and a member
of the Society of American Artists, the American Water Color Society, the Artists' Fund Society, the
Salmagundi Club, the Brooklyn Art Club and the Oxford and Union League clubs.
784
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
The reputation enjoyed by Edwin Howland Blashfield as a painter of rare imaginative power and
a thorough master of technique easily entitles him to recognition among the foremost artists of the day.
His "Roman Lady's Fencing Lesson " and " Lispiration," the former a Salon and the latter a Royal
Academy picture, have met with appreciation and laudatory criticism. Not alone as an artist in color
mediums has Mr. Blashfield distinguished himself. He is famous as an illustrator, and the quality of work
produced by men of his caliber is responsible in a great measure for the continued expansion of the black
and white field. He has profusely illustrated a number of magazine articles, written in collaboration with
his wife and published in leading American periodicals; among these have been " Romola in Florence,"
"The Man at Arms," and "A Plea for Stage Pictures." He has also illustrated Frank R. Stockton's
"Clocks of Rondanie " and Whittier's " Legend of Rugen," Mr. Blashfield was born in New York in 1848.
His early youth was passed in Brooklyn, where his family has had a home for years. At the age of eighteen
he went to Paris and studied under Leon Bonnat and Oerome When the Franco-German war began he
left Paris and traveled through Belgium and (lermany, closing his tour in Italy, where he spent eight
months as a resident of Florence. After recrossing the Atlantic and passing two years in America, he
returned to Paris and exhibited in the Salon from 1S75 ""t'^ 1880. In the latter year he came back to New
York and opened a studio there. After that he traveled in P>gypt, and spent the summer of 1886 in Eng-
land. In 1889 he received a Salon medal at Paris. In 1890 Mr. Blashfield revisited Egypt and made a sec-
ond journey up the Nile. He was one of the artists selected to decorate the World's Fair Building at Chi-
cago, and was recalled from Paris for that purpose. His latest works include two of his most important pro-
ductions; they are oil paintings, " The Angel with the Flaming Sword " and " Ringing the Christmas Bells."
In the person of Mauritz Frederick Hendrick De Haas, Brooklyn possesses one of the most suc-
cessful marine painters of this or any other era in the history of art. He was born in Rotterdam, on
December 12, 1832, and studied painting under Spoel, Bosboom and Louis Meyer. He sketched for a time
along the coasts of his native Holland and in England, and in 1851 took up the study of water color paint-
ing in London. He settled in 1858 in New York. He was elected an A. N. A. in 1863, and an N. A. in
1867. His chief works embrace a variety of marine and coast views, including "Admiral Farragut's Fleet
passing New Orleans," " Sunset at Sea," " Moonlight at Sea," " Sunrise in a Fog — near Newport, Propical
Sunset at Sea," "Shipwreck," and "Off Marblehead."
Among the younger artists whose labors have closely identified them with this city, Warren Sheppard
has earned a comparatively wide reputation. His earlier work exhibited a marked inclination towards the
school of Martin Rico, under whom at one time Mr. Sheppard desired to study ; latterly he has encouraged
a tendency in the direction of marine painting. Mr. Sheppard was born in New Jersey in April, 1858, but
has lived in Brooklyn since the age of fifteen. He learned drawing and perspective in the Cooper Institute
in New York, and taught himself the principles of coloring by studying directly from nature. Mr. Shep-
pard has been abroad three times and has studied both in Venice and Paris. He has exhibited in London.
Among his more notable works are: "The Restless Sea," which will figure in the galleries at the World's
Fair, "The Golden Palace," "A Canal in Venice," and "Santa Maria della Salute." Mr. Sheppard's studio
is in his residence at 426 Ninth street.
William Hamilt(jn Gibson, a life-long Brooklynite, is a painter whose work is an essential feature of
every collection of American paintings; though he is perhaps best known to the extensive public that observes
the work of a successful illustrator of the popular magazines, and wherever Harper s Magazine goes his
work is a familiar and welcome feature. Original investigation of nature has given him subjects that have
more than a pictorial interest, and while his rendering of them is exquisite in art and poetic in feeling, his
accuracy as a naturalist lends an added element of interest. His father, the late E. T. H. Gibson, was a
prominent Brooklynite, and the son was born at the country home in Sandy Hook, Conn., in 1850. He was
educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic and the famous " Gunnery " school in Washington, Conn. Artistic
from youth, he began to paint in water colors in boyhood, and has been entirely self-taught in his calling.
He has had so good a teacher that his technical skill is remarkable, while his freedom from the traditions
of the schools has resulted in a style that is thoroughly original, but without a trace of eccentricity. He
now devotes most of his time to water color work in which he has been a favorite exhibitor for many years ;
but he works also in oil, pastel, gouache, crayon, pencil, smoke and charcoal. He is a member of the
Water Color Society, the Brooklyn Art Club, the Salmagundi and the Century Club, of New York. His
residence in Brooklyn is on Lincoln place, and he has recently completed a handsome house on the hills of
Washington, Conn., where for many years he has made his summer home.
Though living and working in New York SrANLEV Middleton is a Brooklynite by birth and education.
He was born in 1854. He studied in New York under A. C. Howland, and when twenty years old crossed
the ocean to still further cultivate his artistic predilections. He spent more than four years in Paris, and
then returned to this country, where he remained about the same length of time ; he then revisited Paris
and studied there five years. During all the years which he spent in the French capital, he studied under
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
78s
such masters as Jaquesson, De La Chevreuse, Dagnau-Bonveret, Harpigne and Benjamin Constant. He
returned to America five years ago, and occupies a studio in tlie Siierwell building on West sytli street.
He devotes liimself almost exclusively to figure and portrait painting, and in these lines has won merited
recognition. His ideal head of "Rosalind" is the example selected to illustrate the account of Mr. Henry
T. Cox's collection, on a later page in this volume. He is a member of the Salmagundi Club. i-
J. Carter Bearu made his entree into the artistic circles of New York in 1865, and since that time has
become very widely known as one of the leading illustrators of the day. He has also done a great deal
towards illustrating the school books of the present generation and, until a few years ago, was a contributor
to the water color exhibitions in New York. Mr. Beard was born in Cincinnati on June 6, 1837 ; he was
educated at Miami University in his native state, where he was a fellow member in the Delta Kappa
Epsilon Society with Whitelaw Reid. He studied law under the late Rutherford B. Hayes, but after being
admitted to the bar he abandoned his prospects as a lawyer and entered upon the study of art.
Joseph A. De La Harpe is a scenic artist, who was born at Lausanne, Switzerland, on June i, 1850,
two months after the death of his father, an officer under the Russian government. His mother was a lady
of much literary ability and was an aquarelle artist of excellent merit. When her son was seven years old
she came to America, being an invalid, and having vainly sought relief at the various curative resorts of
Europe, upon medical advice she visited the hot sulphur springs near Salt Lake City, the result of which
was her complete restoration. She made her home in Salt Lake City and remained there until her death,
about fifteen years ago. Mr. De La Harpe made frequent sketching tours to the wilds of the Rocky Moun-
tains, where he often remained for months at a time, becoming thoroughly acquainted with an extensive
region. He served as a guide to several surveying, mining and geohjgical parties, and he assisted in the
survey on the wildest and roughest part of the Union Pacific Railway in the Weber and Echo caiions on
Brigham Young's contract. As guide to a party sent out to secure Indian relics, mineralogical specimens
and other articles for the Salt Lake Museum, he led it through the " three valleys " — Salt Lake, Tooele and
Skull valleys — into the Wasatch range of the Rockies. He remained in Utah until he was twenty-one
years old, his last employment there being with Brigham Young, who engaged him first to sketch and
paint, from caged specimens, the wild animals of the Rocky Mountain region. These pictures were for
the Salt Lake Museum, but several of them are now in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. Mr.
De La Harpe took up scene painting at Mr. Young's suggestion, and was placed in the Salt Lake Theatre,
of which the Mormon president was the proprietor. He distinguished himself as a portrait painter also, and
among his works were portraits of such dignitaries in the Mormon Church as Brigham Young, Heber C. Kim-
ball, who was Young's first councillor; Daniel H. Wells, mayor of Salt Lake City and lieutenant-general of the
" Nauvoo I^egion " or Mormon militia, and others. He
also painted portraits of Joseph and Hiram Smith, the
founders of the Mormon sect, from ambrotype like-
nesses, by the aid of such descriptive information as
he could gather. Ambition led him to turn his face
eastward, and after short sojourns in several western
cities he reached New York and entered upon an en-
gagement with Augustin Daly, who was about to pro-
duce a dramatization of Mark Twain's " Roughing It "
and other plays dealing with life in the far west, the
scenery for which was of course extremely familiar to
Mr. De La Harpe. Afterwards he was engaged at
Booth's Theatre, at the corner of Twenty-third street
and Sixth avenue, and he has produced scenery for
nearly every first-class theatre in New York city. In
1876 he became a resident of Brooklyn and painted
for Hooley's Theatre, the Brooklyn Theatre, Hyde &
])ehman's, the Academy of Music, the Grand Opera
House and others. He designed Hyde & Behman's
Theatre and superintended its construction, and at this
writing is engaged in painting a drop curtain and the
scenery for that firm's new house in Williamsburgh.
He has painted scenery in forty-seven theatres, of
which twenty-four are in Brooklyn and New York.
He also made the architectural designs and plans for
the buildings of the Brooklyn Jockey Club. Mr. De
La Harpe married Miss May Valentine in 1874.
JOSEPH A. De La Hakpe.
786 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY.
The histor)' of amateur photography in this city is a story of rapid development from the smallest pos-
sible origin. Twelve years ago there was no regular organization of amateurs in Brooklyn ; to-day there
ai<e two large and influential associations, which have exerted more or less influence in the advancement of
the science. When the Brooklyn Academy of Photography was established in 1887, a dozen amateur photo-
graphers were collected with the greatest difficulty for the purpose of organization. Prior to that time the
late George B. Brainerd, at one time deputy water purveyor of Brooklyn, was regarded as the pioneer of
amateur photography in this city and on Long Island; his work was admirable and unique; his methods
were many of them original, and he designed a hand camera, which has since been generally used by ama-
teurs in this city and elsewhere, and was perhaps the first magazine camera ever in e.xistence. Other
important contributions to photography, which have been made by Brooklyn amateurs, are a method of
determining the speed of the shutter and a method of photographing luminous objects, both of which
resulted from exhaustive research by Dr. Wallace Goold Levison; Dr. French of this city utilized photo-
graphy to reproduce the action of the vocal chords, and many of our local amateurs have attained the
highest possible perfection in the mechanical and artistic details of their art. It is generally conceded that
cameras in the hands of Brooklyn men have produced some of the best results achieved in the United
States during the last decade by amateurs or professionals.
The Brooklyn Academy of Photography was organized and incorporated in February, 1887, with
a dozen charter members; they were : Wallace Goold Levison, president ; Frank La Manna, first vice-presi-
dent ; James L. Cornell, second vice-president ; Willis Dodge, corresponding secretary; Adrian V. Mar-
tense, recording secretary ; George B. Brainerd, treasurer ; C. G. Levison, Gonzalo Poey, John Merritt,
M. D., John Lefferts, Jr., Charles H. Carter and William T. Wintringham. All these twelve constituted
a board of trustees. The avowed object of the academy as announced in its first printed prospectus was
the " advancement of photography in its scientific, historical, art and technical applications." This state-
ment permitted great latitude of interpretation. At first the meetings of the academy were held in mem-
bers' houses at irregular intervals; then came an offer from Dr. Hoagland of rooms in the Hoagland
Laboratory on Henry street. The offer was accepted, and the first meeting was held in the new quarters
in January, 1889. Apartments were afterwards obtained at 517 Fulton street, and, after remaining there
a year, the academy moved to its present rooms at 177 Montague street. Here they are supplied with the
best developing facilities, electric lights, and all photographic conveniences. Weekly meetings are held for
the discussion of technical subjects. The academy is in close touch with foreign photographic societies,
and Frank La Manna, its late president and one of the most enthusiastic and expert among its members,
is councillor of the International Photographic Union of Paris. The academy has preserved complete
records of many interestmg occurrences, including the great blizzard of t888, the Washington centennial
of 1889 and the Columbian celebration of 1892. The official "History of the Centennial Celebration" of
1889 contains twenty-six illustrations taken from negatives made by the members of the academy. This
number was nearly one-half of all the illustrations in the book, the balance being mostly reproductions of
old engravings. The valuable contributions of the academy to the illustrations of this volume, from the
negatives taken by the late George B. Brainerd twenty years ago of historic landmarks in and around Brook-
lyn, are fully credited elsewhere. The academy belongs to the American League of Amateur Photograph-
ers and to that organization's slide interchange. Its active membership now numbers about one hun-
dred, and its corresponding, associate and honorary members aggregate nearly forty. Its officers are :
John Merritt, M. D., president ; Harry S. Fowler, corresponding secretary ; William T. Wintringham,
treasurer.
The Brooklyn Society of Amateur Photographers, which was merged in the Brooklyn Academy
of Photography in August, 1891, was organized by a few enthusiasts, among whom were Allan Ormsbee,
Homer Ladd, George R. Sheldon and H. P.'Sewell, on March 22,1889. Mr. Ormsbee was the society's first
president, and his successors in office were C. M. Trowbridge and Homer Ladd. Meetings were first held
at members' houses, and, within a short time after the date of organization, rooms were secured in a build-
ing at 412 Jay street. These premises were abandoned in 1890, and the meetings were again held at
private houses. The society held several creditable print exhibitions, and accomplished a great deal of
excellent work, both as an organization and through the efforts of individual members. At the time of its
absorption by the academy the society had thirty-two members.
The Department of Photography of the Brooklyn Institute was organized with thirty-four
members on March 26, 1889. Its nucleus had existed for some time previous as the Linden Camera Club,
which had a limited membership, and met at the residence of Alexander Black, on Linden street, in the
Eastern District. To-day the department has a membership not very far short of two hundred. At first the
department occupied rooms in the old Institute building on Washington street, but after that structure was
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 787
gutted by fire on September 12, 1890, it found a home at 201 Montague street, its present location. Here
its suite of apartments includes a studio room and dark and enlarging rooms. The department gives fre-
quent exhibitions and lectures, and has a number of excursions every year for the benefit of the members.
Alexander Black was the first president of the department. The present officers are : J. Foster Flagg,
president ; G. W. Wundram, vice-president ; Lewis E. Meeker, M. D., curator ; Gould W. Hart, secretary ;
Miss Anna L. Meeker, corresponding secretary ; Pierre L. Le Brun, treasurer.
PRIVATE ART COLLECTIONS.
Of the higher forms of recreation the patronage of art and the passion for collecting pictures find
many devotees among the residents of Brooklyn, and her collectors are familiar figures at all the great
sales and are well-known in the studios of Europe and America. Some have formed general collections,
in which the various schools of art are represented by characteristic examples ; some have sought the
masterpieces of distinct schools and of individual painters ; some have made it their pleasure and their
pride to cover their walls with the best productions of American artists, and all have done something for
the encouragement of home art. In consequence of the liberal and cultured zeal of the collectors of
Brooklyn, the city has many creditable collections to show, some of which are of the first rank, in the
number, the quality or the representative character of the treasures they have accumulated.
MR. JOHN T. MARTIN'S COLLECTION.
In John T. Martin's gallery, at No. 28 Pierrepont street, is an important collection thoroughly well
displayed. It is one of the pioneer collections of Brooklyn. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have spent a portion of
each year in Europe, and among the art treasures of the Old World they found much refreshing enjoyment
and gradually developed a taste for the works of the great painters of the day. Many were purchased
during their trips abroad, from the artists themselves ; others were obtained on the breaking up of
collections in this country, and soon the walls of their commodious Brooklyn house were crowded. Then
it was decided to build a picture gallery. This was completed in the year 1876. After much weeding
out and many additions, much of it due, of late years, to the refined taste and excellent judgment of Mrs.
Martin, the owners came to look upon it as a fairly complete and representative collection, and in this
opinion were strengthened by the judgment of those who came to visit it, as its reputation spread among
the art lovers of the country.
This collection is valuable rather in its comprehensive representation of the canvases of leading
artists than of any one period or school. Indeed, there are only ten cases in which more than one example
of the same artist is found, and these may be attributed to the unexpected obtaining of a rarer example
after the first one had been purchased. As a consequence there are three of Diaz, three of Zimmerman,
and two each of Breton, Detaille, Gauerman, Knaus, Lambinet, Millet, Meyer von Bremen, Shayer, Staigg,
and Troyon. The latter represent two widely different periods and styles, and of the Detailles, the
later one was a commission given in the artist's studio in 1880. The catalogue contains nearly one
hundred numbers, and its representative character may be judged from the following names : Artz,
Bargue, Becker, Bodenmuller, Bonheur (Rosa), Bouguereau, Boutibonne, Breton, Cabanel, Charlemont,
Benjamin Constant, Casado, Casanova, Chevilliard, Chierici, Corot, Dalbono, Daubigny, Defregger,
Denner, De Neuville, Desgoffe, Detaille, Diaz, Dupre, Duverger, Echtler, Escosura, Faustini, Fichel,
FVomentin, Gauerman, Gerome, Girardet, Gros, Guillemin, Gysis, Hallberger, Heck, Herring, Beaufain,
Irving, Jacque, Jimenez, Koekkoek, Koken, Klimsch, Knaus, Lambinet, Landelle, Lecompte, Le Roux,
Madon, Martin, Max, Meissonier, Millet, Meyer von Bremen, Merle, Mount, Pascutti, Pettenkofen, Preyer,
Read, Robbe, Rousseau, Schutze, Schutzenburger, Schreyer, Shayer, Soyer, Staigg, Troyon, Van Marcke,
Van Mieris, Verboeckhoven, Vibert, Vineau, Von Rhomberg, Willems, Zamacois, Zimmerman.
The first of the canvases to which the visitor is attracted is a De Neuville, painted to order in
1873. It is called " The Siege of Gravelotte," and depicts a dashing charge of dragoons upon the break-
ing ranks of the enemy. It is full of spirited action and color, and may be accepted as a specimen of
this artist's best work. Opposite to it is a pendant picture by the other great French painter of soldier's
life, Detaille, which shows "The Return from a Grand Manoeuvre." It was ordered at the same time as
the De Neuville picture, and therefore the two afford an excellent opportunity for comparison of these two
celebrated artists. The Detaille only suffers from it in the scene and the subject itself ; the action is neces-
sarily less spirited ; the mind reposes on it instead of being aroused and excited, as is the case when you
stand before De Neuville's dragoons and are thrilled with incident after incident in the actual battle. Near
by is the Corot, which was purchased in Paris from Goupil, in 1884. In this quiet scene, where the evening
788
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
J.': ■■.'■■ • '.
^
^■f:^- ~
_. •..-<'* .:i.>»^"^'^-''.
''■-■••
■ - , ~^■'
'fck ■'^'^ -
.- -
. - - - "
w^
1
tt ^ ^
PI,
>*
,^^^-:;:)if-
1
%' t|
.^''^iML^il i:
M-
^ ^
^^^9f^9%^ ■ iS^'^^i*
•\i
I'
I2v i^w9
w^
^^K J^H ^CrP^^"'^'''
k^l^:'
''- — ^^^■■■lllk-__! r^' ' '
Qh^^^^
1^
4
wBB^K "^ ^^ ■ '''Ass
\
%«^
u
K^
" The Christening," bv Ludwig Knaus.
sun Steals gently over a hill, flecking the branches of a rugged cedar on its summit, you find absolute
repose. It is one of the largest and most important Corots in this country, and many noted connoisseurs
envy its possessor. There are two excellent Bretons, the one a group in the hay field, a mother with baby
at breast forming the centre figure, which was originally in the collection of James Matthews, and the
other a peasant girl lying on the bank of a lily pond, and called "Meditation." Between the soft grays
of the Corot, with its highly poetic and tender feeling, and the soft and suggestive grass greens of the
Breton last mentioned, is a little gem of bright color which was painted by Meissonier in 1867. It is
called " The Return Home," and is a gay cavalier in scarlet coat and scarlet feather in his drab hat,
full of life and sentient expression. Over it are a couple of Millets, peasants going to work in the
gray dawn, the beams of the sun coming from the background and giving the delicate touches of light
and dark shadow which characterize the greater portion of this famous artist's work. It awakens exactly
the same sentiment as does the famous " Angelus," that quiet intro-reflective mood which, like the most
joyous song of the nightingale, has yet a tinge of sadness in it. The Daubigny shows Nature in a less
sombre vein. The cares of the day are over ; a little mirthful jesting and subdued laughter, and then
to sleep. It is called " Evening on the Seine," and as one watches the shadows flit across the silvery
face of the stream there seems to come the distant hum and gleam of lights from never sleeping Paris
at no great distance. This work came from the John Wolfe collection, and was the first of Daubigny's
pictures to command a high price in this country. Among the other examples of the 1830 school to be
found in this gallery its rank is high. The price paid for this picture was only $5,200, but at that time
Daubignys were going a-begging at from $1,000 to $3,000, and most of them were not of a quality to com-
pare with the one purchased by Mr. Martin. After the high price paid by Mr. Martin on his own judg-
ment, many others, and in some respects better, examples of this artist's work were sent over. They are
now scattered all over the country, but Mr. Martin may be said to be the pioneer in their introduction here.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 789
There are some connoisseurs who hold that the jewel of Mr. Martin's collection is " The Christening,"
by Ludwig Knaus, a work that cost Mr. Martin $50,000, and that helped t(j set the standard of the artist's
reputation for the future. Knaus was of the Dusseldorf school, and the excellent drawing, full, rich color
and vigorous realism for which this great German artist is famous, are further exemplified in his pictures of
"The Herd Boy," and "A Female Head," also to be found in this collection. The latter was purchased
from the studio of the artist in Berlin. Another work which these art lovers took direct from the easel
at Munich is " The Spirit Hand," by Gabriel Ma.x, which depicts a young woman in mourning robes, with
sad eyes and tear-stained cheeks to whom a shadowy hand is held out in consoling sympathy. It is a
strong picture with a sad motive. Another picture calculated to raise sombre thought is one by Merle,
called "The Inconsolable." It is a group of peasant children, open eyed and breathless, by an old well,
on the frame of which sits a weary gypsy mother, bending tenderly and dry eyed over her dead baby. Turn
from these to gayer scenes, first among which is a splendid Carl Becker, called " The Welcome Guests."
The costumes are of that graceful Venetian moyeii age which this painter affects, and the scene is laid on the
terrace of a noble villa in the country, near Venice. Near by is another picture which tells a whole story.
It was painted to order by Hector Le Roux and is called " Aurelia and Pomponia." These were the names of
two vestal virgins condemned to death during the reign of Caracalla. In a large hall the vestals are assem-
bled. Two empty chairs in the first row bear the names of the condemned. The Superior, with her sur-
rounding attendants, form the High Tribunal. The High Priest is reading the sentence to the trembling
girls who are doomed ; the faces of the other virgins are filled with pity and horror. It is a powerful con-
ception, and masterly carried out.
There is a picture by Pettenkofer which commands instant attention, and has been very highly spoken
of. The title is " Pendant le Duel," and the atmospheric effects seem the more wonderful the more it
is looked into. The figures are full of life ; even the horses seem to have a glimmering idea that a tragedy
is being enacted. But the chief charm is in the perspective, and the clever manner in which the fleeting
mood of nature in a frosty dawn is captured. The old woman's head by Denner is a speaking likeness,
executed with that microscopic accuracy and infinite elaboration of detail which made him famous at the
age of twenty-four. For a similar accuracy of drawing, but more forceful in execution and color, " The
Sentinel," by Bargue, is also noteworthy. It was purchased at the Morgan sale, and is thought to be one
of the best examples of the artist in this country.
Among other gems of this collection is a magnificent Van Marcke, painted at the epoch after he turned
from landscape to the portrayal of cattle. The canvas was finished to order in 1878, the year in which
the artist was awarded the first-class medal by the Paris salon. There are also two excellent examples of
Troyon, of whom Van Marcke was a pupil, and a notable canvas by Rousseau called " Les Bucherounes."
This is a superb illustration of the close of an autumn day. Rosa Bonheur's landscape, with sheep and cattle,
is from the collection of the late W. Tilden Blodgett, and is well-known. Mr. Blodgett was one of the con-
noisseurs sent to Europe to represent the Metropolitan Museum and purchase notable works for it.
The works of Diaz are much admired by Mr. Martin, and the three canvases bearing his name are
among his best. The " Scene of the Forest of Fontainebleau " is from the collection of the banker Oppen-
heim, of Paris; "The Bathers" is full of soft, dreamy sentiment, and "Venus and Adonis" is as pure in
drawing as faultless in color.
For a picture full of vivid coloring Casado's " Interior of Goya's Studio " is an excellent example. It
represents the artist Goya at work upon the portrait of the beautiful Duchess of Alba, and the proud
model, in lovely costume, reclines gracefully upon a divan, while at her feet and toward the left of the
cabinet are a group of noblemen in gay apparel apparently passing the time over a collection of engravings
or in contemplating the beauty of their aristocratic mistress. Defregger is represented by a large canvas
called "Italian Beggar Singers," which has much merit, and the three figure paintings by Zimmerman
cannot be passed by without a note of admiration by those interested in skillful characterization.
Of more than passing interest among these great artists is T. Buchanan Read's "Sheridan's Ride." It
is of interest, because several replicas were made of it at a time when the subject was one of much verse
and many newspaper articles, and there arose quite a contention among art collectors as to which one
possessed the original picture. The one in Mr. Martin's gallery is certified by the artist himself, which
ought to end the discussion.
Of the statuary, the large piece in an alcove, "Cleopatra Before Cresar," was executed to order by
Lucardi, of Rome, in 1873. " Michael Angelo's First Effort," shows the great sculptor as a youth chiseling
away at the head of a fawn. It is by Zocci, of Florence. There is an " II Penseroso " and an " Undine,"
by Mozier, a "Proserpine" and "Head of Greek Slave," by Powers, and other marbles, including a bust of
Mr. Martin, by AVagmuller, of Munich. In the library there is also an excellent portrait of Mr. Martin,
painted by Benjamin Constant, and Mrs. Martin has a large and important collection of fans, of every age
and clime, and her tiny cabinets of rare porcelains are of exceptional beauty and value.
ytjo THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
THE LATE DAVID C. LYALL'S COLLECTION.
Brooklyn has recently lost two important collections, and even before the death of Mr. David C.
Lyall, in the summer of 1892, the loss of his collection also was a settled fact, as he had intended remov-
ing it to the new house he had built in New York. It is worthy of record, however, and of a prominent
place in Brooklyn's history, for in beautiful works by the best masters it is both rich and rare. As in several
other Brooklyn collections, the works of the Barbizon school cut an important figure. Of these Mr. Lyall
had three of Millet, three of Corot, three of Rousseau, four of Daubigny, four of Jules Dupre, two of Diaz,
two of Jacque ; while Troyon, Delacroix and Courbet also are represented. It only needed a Decamps to
fill the lists of the Barbizon men, and make this one of the finest representative collections of that school in
thi= country ; for of these twenty-five canvases, nearly every one ranks high, and a large majority of them
are masterpieces. Of the Millets, "La Naissance du Veau " is perhaps the best known. It is one of the
studies of peasant life that he so loved to portray. It was a salon picture of 1864. It was among the most
important of the works of this artist shown at the e.Khibition of his paintings by the American Art Associa-
tion several years ago. The three Corots are of almost equal merit, but " Le Bouleau" is esteemed to be
the most important work of the three. It is characterized by the simplicity of manner and the subdued
harmonies which mark about the middle period of this artist's many works. Of the three superb Rousseaus,
one is of a peasant plowing on a moist morning ; the horse pants as he trudges through the loamy soil, and
his heavy breath mingles with the mist. Other figures at work are dimly shown in the background.
Equally realistic is another scene depicting huge rocks and wide-spreading oaks in autumn foliage, near
the shade of which cattle are browsing in the soft sunshine, which is contrasted with the purple woods
closing in the background. The Daubigny landscapes are all superb examples.
The Dupres offer striking contrasts of the versatility of his great genius as a close student of nature in
all her moods— from a misty dawn, out of which looms up a huge oak, while beyond are seen the farm build-
ings with just a suggestion of renewed life about them, to a soft summer sky beaming on luxuriant
vegetation, and an evening scene with rippled water and wind-blown clouds. Diaz, who in early life labored
with Dupre as a journeyman painter on porcelain, has in this collection an important canvas which may be
accepted as an illustration of the vitality of that joyous nature which supported him through the afflictions
of a laborious youth and the privations of a neglected early manhood. It is a fanciful conceit of nymphs
and cupids, and is splendid in both modeling and color. One of the Jacques, a landscape with sheep, is
masterly in treatment. These lead us to the large and important Troyon. It is universally considered that
this painting surpasses in excellence any of his other works. It is a cattle piece, more splendid in spirit and
more powerful in color, vivid realism, and quiet naturalness than the one with which this great artist aston-
ished the French salon in 1847, after his close study of the old Dutch masters. It was purchased at the sale
of the Stewart collection. The canvas by Eugene Delacroix is the well-known one called " L'enlevement
de Rebecca," which in splendid color portrays a powerful incident from Scott's Ivanhoe. Every detail of
the picture is full of spirited action and glowing color. Another great picture is the Jules Breton, " La Fin
du Travail," which was painted to order in 1887 and declared by the artist himself to be his masterpiece.
Of the marked originality and bold personal style of Courbet there is a powerful example. A ra\'ine
winds through the middle, shut in by bold rocky precipices, whose summits are crowned with dark foliage.
It is nature in her milder haunts and sterner moods. A canvas three by five feet represents the last
work done by De Neuville, "Cutting the Telegraph Wires" — an episode of the Franco-Prussian War, the
entrance of the French into the town of Etretat. What makes this important picture the more interesting
is the fact that the officers in the foreground are all portraits, and in Mr. Lyall's possession is an auto-
graph letter from the artist describing the incident and giving names of the participants. There is
another stirring military piece called "Prise d'une Batterie," an incident of the Crimean War, also a com-
mission picture. This is by Paul Alexander Protais, whose "Before and after Combat" is so famous.
Among other canvases painted to order are two charming landscapes by Leon Pelouse, and two dainty
water colors by Maurice Leloir, of whom there is also a good example in oil ; " Le Voix Celeste," by
Hebert, an important work ; one of Bonnat's " La Cruche Cassee " pictures a pretty Italian girl in her
tattered dress of many colors in distress over her mishap ; a first class example of Eugene Isabey,
" Cardinal's Blessings ; " in regard to all of which space prevents an adequate description, as also to any
particular reference to the excellent examples of Pasini, David Johnson, G. Michel, VoUon, B. W. Leader
(an English artist who received his first American commission from Mr. Lyall), F. L. Francais, V. Palmaroli,
Lambinet, G. B. O'Neil, R. A., Louis Cabot, August Bonheur, Bastien Lepage, Hector Hanoteau, Madon,
Boldini, Henner (a Magdalen), Erskin-Nichol, J. L. Gerome (" Ambulating Arab Merchant"), R. Brascassat,
Fromentin ("Souvenir d'Algiers"). Cazin has a picture of his garden, which shows his poetic brush, and
the well-known but always beautiful " Le Printemps," by Cot, and others. There are a number of excel-
lent water colors in Mr. Lyall's drawing-room, notably one by the greatest of English landscape artists,
J. M. W. Turner ; two by Birket Foster, one by David Cox, and a pastel by Millet.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
791
' Rosalind," by Stanley Middleton.
MR. HENRY T. COX'S COLLECTION.
Among the early collectors of paintings is Henry T. Cox, of No. 236 Henry street, corner of Joralemon
street. His little gallery extension is a charming nook in which to while away many an hour, surrounded
by covetable gems and pictures of the highest merit, from the easels of such eminent artists as Cabanel,
Gerome, Van Marcke, Cazin, Daubigny, Schreyer, Diaz, George H. Boughton, Jules Dupre, Bouguereau,
Corot, Henner, Edouard Frere, Jacque, Fromentin, Jensen, Rousseau, Lerolle, Delort, Rico, Vollon, Worms,
Meyer Von Bremen, Koekkoek, Meyerheim, Jacomin, Flamm, Jordain, J. H. Tracy, Perrier, S. Middleton,
Robie, J. Goubie, Steinheil, D. Huntington, De Haas, Voltz, A. Point, Sir David AVilkie, Induno, Zuber,
Buhler, Adolph Weisz, L. Munthe, J. Breling, James Ward (of London), H. Baron, Munier, G. B. O'Neil,
Echtler, E. Ciceri, Eugene Feyen, A. Siegert, Leon Glaize ; and water colors by Schultz, Maccari, Louis
Leloir, De Penne, Colman, Meyer Von Bremen, Vibert, Bright, Detaille, Boughton, L. C. Tiffany and
others. Corot, Jacques, Diaz, Perrier, Jules Dupre and a few others of the masters are represented by two
and in a few instances by three examples. Mr. Cox's frequent visits to Europe, extending over a period of
many years, have afforded him good opportunities of acquiring relative art values and so true taste, and
his selections are sufficient proof that he has not gone into single-minded rapture about any particular
school or schools. Most of his paintings have been purchased direct from the artist's easel or have been
commissioned ; and that he is wholly cosmopolitan in art is shown by the names on the corner of the
canvases.
Of the grandly imaginative work by Alex. Cabanel, called " The Trysting Place of Souls," the great
artist said he got the inspiration from "A Midsummer Night's Dream ; "
"And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger,
At whose approach ghosts, wandering here and there,
Troop home to churchyards."
7^2 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
He has represented a soul that has been called back to earth and has for a time resumed its fleshly
garb to hold converse once more with those it loved in life. There are two Greek figures, the girl seated
on a bank, under dark overhanging trees, with sad eyes gazing on vacancy ; trying to look into those eyes
a youth, a lover, who an.xiously pleads. ^Dimly discernible in the distance is a church with faint light in
one window. The filmy drapery of the girl, the melancholy pose, the depth of gentle grief in the dark moist
eyes, the delicate etheriality of the whole figure, these show the master hand in a conception which in all its
details is in powerful sympathy with the ideal Master Poet. It is a composition truly great. But the
girl's face in particular is fascinating and haunting. One might well exclaim on turning away from it: "I
have seen a soul."
From Gerome's easel Mr. Cox has a magnificent example of this great artist. It is a life-size portrait
of a Bashi Bazouk, whose soft, smooth, dark-brown skin is contrasted with his many colored turban, and
his worn satin cloak — the sheen and texture of which is marvelously shown. LeroUe's picture of the
" Potato Harvest " in its composition and its scheme of soft misty grays might easily be mistaken for a
Millet. Bouguereau's "Child of the Vintage," a life-size female head wreathed in vine leaves, is as fine
an example of his great technical knowledge and masterly skill as any in this country. The Huntington,
painted many years ago for Mr. Cox, is a little gem in portraiture, finished like a miniature and called
" Beatrice." Another excellent ideal head is that of " Rosalind," by Stanley Middleton. His Van Marcke
is an unusual example by that excellent artist, representing a village scene with two fine cows in the fore-
ground, followed by sheep and calves. The style is very broad, resembling in a measure that of his master.
Constant Troyon ; there is strong and beautiful effect in the thatched cottages by the roadside and the
cloudy sky ; the cows are admirably treated.
Of the so-called " School of 1830," there are ten choice examples, representing six artists : Daubigny,
Corot, Dupre, Fromentin, Diaz and Rousseau, all being worthy specimens. The Sir David Wilkie is his well-
known " Teaching the Blackbird to Whistle." The innkeeper with his red " weskit " and his jug and his
glass, has the wicker cage on the table, and his earnestness as a teacher is such that even when you look at
the picture your lips unconsciously pucker. The examples of Perrier show a chateau in Spain, and a
charming landscape in his minutely beautiful style. " The Widow's Acre," by George H. Boughton, is
a scene on the picturestiue " Isle of Wight ;" a charming landscape with figures in the foreground and
fishermen's cottages in the distance.
The Charles Jacques are three in number ; one called " The Coming Storm," shows cattle standing in
the water craning their necks in the direction of the swiftly moving rain clouds; another of a barnyard
with fowls, in his inimitable manner; and a third, landscape and sheep. Schreyer is represented by two
large and important works. " In Danger " is the title of one ; over a landscape thinly veiled in snow comes
a sleigh, with a single horse. The driver leans forward, madly urging him on ; the animal rears and shrieks
in terror, for the scent of the wolves, shown in the corner of the middle foreground, has caught its nostrils.
The other shows Wallachian teamsters, hurrying homeward in the face of a coming storm. From Cazin
there is a very important example called "The Last Quarter of the Moon," certainly one of the finest ever
produced by this brilliant artist; the whole picture swims in an atmosphere luminous with that tender mellow
light Cazin throws over many of his works ; it stands forth a gem indeed. Taking Mr. Cox's collection as a
whole, it is most carefully and judiciously selected.
Another of Mr. Cox's recreations tends in the direction of adding extra illustrations to books. His
house is filled with books, all rare or at least valuable editions. For some of his extended books he has
hunted the material for years and years. Among his extra-illustrated works, he feels justly proud of his
"Horace Walpole and his World," Isaak Walton's "Angler," "Byron," " Mary Queen of Scots," "Life of
Stothard," and others. His library is famous among the book-lovers, and includes more than 4,000 volumes.
MR. HENRY M. JOHNSTON'S COLLECTION.
Henry M. Johnston is another of the lirooklyn collectors who at the beginning of his career as
such was firmly impressed with the belief that the men of 1830 were the greatest artists of the century.
He began the accumulation of examples of their works fifteen years ago, and his method of collection
has been similar to that of Mr. Walters, of Baltimore, who, in his lifetime, has owned and disposed of
more works of art than any man in this country. Mr. Johnston never sells a picture, but if a better
example than the one he has of a certain artist comes into the market he makes an exchange and pays
the difference ; or if his own examples are too good to be parted with, he buys outright. The advantage
of such a method is that it enables one to accumulate and discriminately weed out at the same time.
But although Mr. Johnston has proceeded on the rule of obtaining one good example of each great master,
it has happened, simply because of the excellence of his first purchases, that he has in some instances more
than one. Particularly is this the case in regard to the works of the men of Barbizon. He has, for
instance, three superb Corots, three of Diaz, two of Delacroix, three of Jacque, three of Jules Dupre;
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
793
and of Cazin, who has blown a breath of new life into the landscape art of France, fallen, as it was, into
a stagnated imitation of the mannerisms of those great masters, Mr. Johnston has no less than four
important canvases.
There are about eighty first-class pictures in this collection, and in addition to the above named are
examples of Rousseau, Troyon, Van Marcke, Daubigny, Rosa Bonheur, Jules Breton, Isabey, De Neuville,
Martin Rico, Clays, Grison, Michel, Mettling, Marilhat, Lambinet, Kaemmerer, Becker, Jalabert, A. Pasini,
Monticelli, Pelouse, V. Hugnet, Claude Monet, Courbet, J. B. Jongkind, Vollon, Zamacois, Bouguereau,
Robie, Raybet, Braith, Desgoffe, Vernet Lecompte, Smith-Hald, Watelin (son-in-law and pupil of Van
Marcke), Pierre Outin, Carl Hoff, Pierre Mignard, Guido Reni, and choice e.xamples of George Inness, David
Johnson, Arthur Quartley, J. Francis Murphy and Leonard Ochtman. When the careful weeding-out
process which Mr. Johnston has carried on for the last decade is borne in mind, such a formidable array
of famous names will help to form an opinion of his really rare and valuable collection as it now stands.
Most of the Corots that have come to this country are landscapes simply, painted after the artist had
simplified his manner, created a system of subdued harmonies, and achieved such triumphs over the prob-
lems of light and air that he became preeminent as the poet-painter of the evening and the dawn. Two of
"The EMBARK.iTioN," BY LOUIS E. G. Isabey.
Mr. Johnston's examples are of this period and show the delicacy of color and the silvery charm under
which nature smiles upon the artist soul she loves. The third Corot, called "Tiger Seeking Prey," is of an
earlier period, when his pictures exhibited greater breadth, strength, and more vigorous striving after color
effects; when it was the sublime rather than the gentler moods of nature which appealed to him. The
effect is one of impressive weirdness and the picture has all the sublime power of the mythological pictures
Corot painted at this time. Mr. Johnston's superb Monticelli is six feet two by three feet four, upright,
and its blaze of color would illuminate and make glorious any gallery in the world. The Empress Eugenie
had it painted to order for one of her political friends. It was a gift worthy of an Empress, and it is only
to the fall of the Empire and the stress of circumstances which led to the ruin of the noble family that
owned it that we are indebted for a sight of it.
There is one of the largest and most important work of Bouguereau, called " Art and Literature," an
allegory painted in 1867, for the library of the late J. Stryker Jenkins. The figures of the two women are
a type of womanhood idealized and made sublime. Jules Dupre's " Oak by the River " is also well-known.
It was selected for exhibition at the Barye loan collection of one hundred masterpieces. It was then in com-
petition, so to speak, not only with the masterpieces of all the really great landscapes, but those also of the
same artist. There were several very superior examples of his brush in this collection, but many con-
-„. THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
/ 94
noisseurs held that for certain qualities of breadth and tone, in the vastness of the blue empyrean, in the far
stretching distances, in the lovely dark green shadowed by a huge oak, on the edge of a silvery, weedy pool,
and the powerful manner in which the sunlight, instead of being reflected lives and vibrates in the picture
itself — this was a masterpiece among the masterpieces.
There is a masterly Delacroix "Tiger and Serpent," a companion picture of that in the Seney sale from
the Secretan collection, and of the same date and quality. A large snake is coiled round the trunk of a
cedar, its hissing head poised and pointing to a Bengal tiger only a few feet away. In this animal all the
powerful coloring for which Delacroix is famous is boldly shown, and nothing so supple, so cruel, so realis-
tically ferocious can be imagined as this open-mouthed beast. You cannot look at it without an apprehen-
sion that it is about to spring. By many this has been held to be one of the best examples of Delacroix in
this country. The other Delacroix is called " The Combat," and is a stirring scene of conflict in the desert.
Which of the Jacques to select for mention is a difficult question. He has a charming moonlight scene
which strongly reminds you of the " Sheepfold," by Millet ; but there is a greater one of his, larger and
more filled with poetic sentiment. The clouds tell you that a storm has just passed over ; the sheep are
being driven back to the pasture ; and the atmosphere is bright yet heavy with the summer rain. You
instinctively feel that no other artist could paint this scene, and in a little tell so much.
From Theodore Rousseau's brush there is shown a small picture which tells you much more of him than
some of his larger works, for it is painted in loving memory of the birthplace of his fame. It is a scene in
the outskirts of Barbizon, and in the middle distance is seen, half hidden in delicately shaded foliage, the
country inn where the great artists of 1830 met nightly and compared notes. And then come the Cazins,
landscapes which you feel that you could walk into, the ambient air so cleverly depicted that you smell
the perfume of the flowers your careless feet have crushed. One of them, showing a thunder storm, will
become famous in after years. The Rosa Bonheur was painted only a year or two before she startled the
art world with her celebrated " Horse Fair." It is a good landscape, and the cattle show the closest of
observation of animal life and the artist's wondrous skill in depicting it. The Jules Breton will make you
pause for a moment. It is a summer day scene on the coast of Brittany, great as a landscape, but greater
still in the color and life he has portrayed in the girls lounging about the crags or washing in the deep cool
basin in the foreground. Probably you will never see a prettier bit of Holland by moonlight than is shown
by Jongkind, and the De Neuville, a "Mounted Sentry," is one of those bits of rare coloring which
connoisseurs seek and only rarely find.
The Isabey, too, is a glorious piece of color and of action. It is called " The Embarkation." There is
the royal barge, purply and gilt, and to the platform below the jetty are hurrying gaily dressed men and
women of the fashion of Louis XIV. But the glory of the picture is in its scheme of color ; the stormy sky
and the angry waves dashing against the slimy timbers of the old wharf. Felix Ziem is represented by
"The Quay of Marseilles," strongly contrasted both in color and treatment ; and by its side is one of the
best Venetian scenes Rico has painted. The Michel is one of his largest and most important landscapes.
The latest, and perhaps the most important, addition to Mr. Johnston's collection is a masterpiece by
Millet called " The Madman." To the admirers of Millet this work will be of absorbing interest, as it
shows him in a new phase. The picture has never been exhibited. It was painted for Dr. Sema, an old per-
sonal friend of Millet, was taken direct from the easel as soon as completed, and has only changed hands
once since. Mrs. Johnston, who is an enthusiast on art, has draped with a curtain the new purchase in
which she takes a wholesome pride, and when this is withdrawn the first feeling is one of horror, as the
abnormally staring bloodshot eyes hold and fascinate you. This feeling, however, soon fades and in its
place steals one of supreme, overwhelming pity. For it is not the face and expression of a maniac. The
gentle timid mouth with its twitching tremulous lips contradicts this ; you seek the eyes again, where you
find no ferocious glare, but a maelstrom of sad thoughts showing through a veil of bitter tears. You catch
the rising sob from a heart as full of sorrows as the sea of sands, and say with Shakespeare : " That he is
mad, 'tis true ; 'tis true, 'tis pity ; and pity 'tis 'tis true." The scheme of coloring gives it the appearance
of a Rembrandt, and the allegorical accessories seem to indicate that the artist intended to paint a raving
maniac, but that his innate humanity unconsciously softened it into a striking picture of a man whose
reason has succumbed beneath an avalanche of sorrow.
Unfortunately for Brooklyn, while this volume is in press Mr. Johnston is offering his fine collection
for sale.
MR. HENRY T. CHAPMAN, JR.'S, COLLECTION.
Henry T. Chapman, Jr., is a collector in the best sense of the word. He has delved through
mediocrity in search of the gems of art with the patient persistence of the Cape miner groping for
diamonds, and, like the latter, has discovered them in the most unexpected places. All his life the collec-
tion of beautiful things has been his hobby and his pride. He was one of the first private collectors of
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
795
this country, and it has taken him thirty-five years to gather together the art treasures which glorify his
Brooklyn home at No. 340 Clinton avenue, and have given his collection an international reputation.
He has in all upwards of three hundred canvases, perhaps one-third of which are rare old masters.
They are all uncatalogued and unclassified, and the visitors, of whom there are many, have to take them in
at random as they strike the eye. It is only after some study of them that it is borne in upon the mind that
one school predominates, and it is the many superb examples of this school which makes the collection so
thoroughly noteworthy. These are known throughout the art world as " The Barbizons." Mr. Chapman
was one of the first to recognize the greatness of these original geniuses at a time when they were not
accepted as prophets in their native land. To his mind "the phalan.x of 1830," as it is called — the noble
little army of which was composed of Rousseau, Diaz, Decamps, Millet, Dupr^, Delacroix, Daubigny, Corot,
Courbet, Troyon, and Jacque — were masters, and he risked his prescience on the greatness of their works
long before the great collectors had begun to bid fortunes for their names. He bought what he could of
their paintings, and he urged their claims on others when his means did not permit him to add further to his
own store. The fruits of his connoisseurship have been seen at many local exhibitions, but his collection
includes many works of first importance that have never been seen except on the walls of their proud owner.
Among these is a group of pictures by the poet-painter Jean Francois Millet, in which the author of
the famous " Angelus" freely reveals his humanity of sentiment and technical mastery. One of these has
the caption ^^ pauvre et content," and Joseph Jefferson observed of it in a burst of enthusiasm, " Poor and
content is rich and rich enough."
The picture is low in color, ripe and
rich, and shows care of drawing
and completeness of finish. It was
painted before Millet had fallen
into monotony, and exhibits greater
variety and subtlety than his later
works.
The masterpieces of Constantin
Troyon illustrate that artist's mas-
tery of landscape and the portrayal
of the brute creation in his various
periods, from landscape only to land-
scape and cattle, and the third per-
iod when the landscape became a
mere background for the animals.
"The Forest of Fontainebleau,"
painted in 1847, is one of pure land-
scape, and serves excellently well to
show how great a landscape painter
this artist was before he made him-
self one of the greatest of modern
cattle painters.
The second period noticeable in
Constantin Troyon's work is one
which is a good example of his tran-
sition from landscape to cattle. The
scene is a grassy common, such as
one sees on the outskirts of any
French hamlet. A little grove
crosses the middle ground ; a shower
lurks in the lazy summer sky. On
the common a broken-down donkey
has been turned out to die, and
around him gather a herd of goats, some of which, with satyr-like sarcasm, mock his misery with sportive
assaults. This is eminently true to nature and bold in execution. It dates two years after the Fontainebleau
landscape. There is also a picture by this artist which represents two cows at a marshy pool which crosses
the foreground, with a distance of low pasture under a cloudy sky. The broad and certain execution and
the powerful color of this picture set it among the masterpieces. Mr. Chapman has another of the same
period, two goats grazing on a stony hillside, and all that he needs is an example of this artist in which the
landscape is entirely subordinated to the cattle to make the collection complete. He will doubtless obtain it.
'The Girl with the Mousetrap," by Sir Joshua Reynold;;.
Drawn by Richard Creyfields^from the original painting.
yc,6 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Of the Corots there is a large and important one called " The Harvesters Returning from the Field,"
which illustrates the artist's middle period, at the time when he was working in Rome, and betrayed its
influences. In its scheme of color and wondrous atmosphere effects it surpasses many of his better efforts.
Of these there is also an e.xample, a little gem of a landscape, featherly delicate in its phases of light and
shadow.
Most notable of all the Barbizons in this collection is the great e.xample of Jules Dupre. This picture
was painted between 1S35 and 1S40, when the artist was in the full vigor of his manhood and enthusiasm,
and is undoubtedly his masterpiece. Nothing can compare with the delicacy which is shown in the pene-
trability of its foliage and its scheme of light and coloring. Only to look at it is to recline on a mossy
knoll in the forest, see the moving panorama of fleecy clouds overhead, feel the gentle swaying of the
foliage under the soft summer zephyrs, hear the insects buzz and the birds sing. A smaller work by the
same master, of about the same period, also shows a lordly oak in the foreground, and in this also the
artist demonstrates his familiar contact with nature. One can understand from these two examples of his
earlier work how Dupre was able, in his decrepitude, to paint such excellent portraits of nature from
memory and experience.
The principal picture by Daubigny is "The Time of Apple Blossoms." It is one of those simple
studies of nature in which Daubigny rejoiced, and no American collection contains an example of his brush-
work which more glorifies his genius. The pictures of Eugene Delacroix include a brilliant sketch for
historical composition and several conceptions of animal life. In one of these we see a lion rending a
serpent that has intruded upon his seclusion ; in another, a weary, hunted tiger in a cane-brake laps water
at a stream ; another has a Bengal man-eater at rest. It is hardly larger than a girl's palm, yet has all
the glow and sparkle of a casket of gems.
Alexandre Gabriel Decamps shows his handiwork in a picture of large dimensions and of sumptuous
tone and color. It is an interior lighted only by one window, and the scene of color shows up the figures
in the middle foreground and throws others and the rest of the picture into deep shadow. To an audience
of peasant children a vagrant showman is exhibiting his marionettes in their portable theatre. It is the
same Punch and Judy show which amuses crowds of children on the Avenue des Champs Elysees, in the
provinces, and throughout rural England even unto this day and generation, and is a pleasing reminiscence
of youthful joys as well as of one of Decamps' long tramps afoot, for he who painted was like Dickens
who wrote, fond of going forth on wayward journeys in quest of possibilities. " Looking at this picture,"
writes a noted art critic, " one can fancy the artist in the unseen doorway, sketch book in hand, with his
hound curled at his feet — one of those hounds that went hunting with him one day and whose baying
called the Fontainebleau foresters to find a great artist lying with his skull shattered at the base of a tree,
against which his horse had thrown him, dying as he had lived, a misunderstood, lonely man."
From the several examples of Diaz may be singled out a nymph and Cupid in the best style of the
artist in this class of subjects, and a study of a young woman in a garden with a hound at her feet. The
example of Van Marcke is of the earlier period, when he was yet under the influence of Troyon, and in
several respects it is much richer in tone than many of his works of a later period. The Courbets and
the Delacroixs are also excellent examples, and, on the whole, as a collection of the Barbizons there is
no other in the country that can compare with this.
Another great Frenchman of the same period was Thomas Couture, whose " Romans of the Decadence"
is a glory to the national collection of France. Next to his " Decadence " in artistic appreciation comes
the masterpiece in the Chapman collection, the " Magdalen." The fair sinner is seated in repentance in
a sylvan retreat. Carnal vanity, in the presence of two roguish Cupidons, tempt her with cajolements of
passion and a bait of jewels. With her eyes on a rustic cross and her hands clasping the Bible, she resists
their allurements. The figures are life-size and in their vitality of color and perfection of modeling have
as much of the palpitant quality of actual flesh and blood as art can simulate. Couture has left no
allegory more striking and lifelike than this.
Probably next in importance come the works of George Michel, in regard to which Mr. Chapman has a
veritable enthusiasm and an ambition to possess all his masterpieces. When he was abroad in 1879, he
came to the conclusion that this artist was not appreciated as he would be some day, and he hunted up and
purchased no less than thirty-nine of his canvases. In after years he added to and eliminated from this
collection until it became one of the choicest in the country. At least three of these Michels are conceded
to be the finest in existence. They are "Quarries near Montmartre," "The Approaching Storm," and
"The Hill of Montmartre."
But all these, after all, are but selected examples in the grand collection of Mr. Chapman. He is in
reality broad and liberal in mind, and not wedded to any time or school. Such early Dutch painters as
Van Goyen and John Van Ravensteyn and Holbein and Phillip Roos, and Peter Van Bloemen, find a place
on his walls, alongside with Sir Joshua Reynolds (" The Girl with the Mousetrap"), Watteau, Caspar,
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 797
Poussln, Claude Lorraine, Hobbema, Van Dyke, Paul Delaroche and Salvator Rosa. The latter is repre-
sented by his famous picture of "The Deluge," made familiar to everybody by the popular reproductions of it.
There are so many episodes of passing interest in Mr. Chapman's collection that it is difficult to decide
which are the more worthy of mention. There is the color scheme of the great picture painted by the mad
artist of the mad King of Bavaria, life behind the scenes of a circus; there is the original of Peter Von
Bloeman's " Descent from the Cross," known wherever the Bible is known ; a portrait by Madame Le Brun,
which in some inexplicable way seems to call up memories of her interesting career; the famous English
artist Morland claims your attention by his chubby country boy in his drab smock frock, and a red field
poppy in his hat— a charming little piece ; and there are many other illustrations of English art that you
are unable to carry in your mind from an afternoon visit. One thing that you are sure to remember, how-
ever, is the very interesting examples of Paul Delaroche's work. He has in the Louvre a large picture of
"The Death of Queen Elizabeth," who died as she lived, a cruel, vainglorious woman, surrounded by
flatterers and sycophants, even on her deathbed. Two of the original portraits for this great historical
work happily fell into the hands of Mr. Chapman, and they are of more than historical interest in that they
are such excellent examples of the early period of French Academic art.
As will be seen from this necessarily brief sketch you go into this collection with the idea of making a
careful study of the Barbizons, but your mind is switched off into other tracks by the multitude of other
interesting objects. The collection of old Chinese porcelains is one of the finest in the country. It contains
several examples of the peachblow, which occasioned such a sensation at the sale of Mrs. Morgan's collec-
tion of "old blues;" tea-leaf color, mirror- black, and coral. Then there are the bronzes, which range from
the earliest period down to Barye, and include some of the famous silver bronzes of India. There are
some exquisite ivory carvings, and Mrs. Chapman has a room to herself, the walls of which are entirely dedi-
cated to autographs and the portraits of their writers. They range from Napoleon as Consul down to the
great men of to-day, and the collection is one of surpassing interest. She has also a series of sketches of
her own hand of a shipwreck at Point Lookout, her summer home. She saw the vessel struggling in the
storm, gave the first alarm, and the pictures commemorating the life saving are wreathed with the old ropes
that formed the ladder of salvation for many lives. There is a head of Mr. Chapman in clay. Hartley
made it in thirty-one minutes before the Rembrandt Club, of which Mr. Chapman is a prominent member.
There are art books galore, including a whole library of catalogues, the Turner Gallery, Michael Angelo's
works, many rare art publications, and about five thousand valuable engravings. There are many cabinets,
quaint and ancient, interesting in the stories they tell of our forefathers' expedients before science got out
of its swaddling clothes, and among these is one kept carefully locked which is a history all in itself of the
first attempts at the manufacture of glass. But the examples selected are of the most fragile description.
They are as fine pearls with the fire-gleam of the opal.
Mr. Chapman keeps in reserve his favorite picture. The critical opinion of its owner is that it is the
greatest Rousseau in the world, and in this fact the visitor will find an additional charm. He is desirous of
showing it a little before the sunset gun is fired on Governor's Island, for, singular to say, this picture is as
the tourmaline, a stone which varies in its color depths with its immediate surroundings. It was the fortune
of the writer to see this picture at the hour it is best seen. And it was curious indeed, and vastly interest-
ing, to watch the transformations of color and depth of tone which the varying light made in this picture.
It was something uncanny. It was in the beginning of the study a masterly piece of brushwork ; then you
found yourself looking from a window over a pastoral scene of great beauty in which everything changed
with the throes of the dying sun. There are other Rousseaus in Mr. Chapman's collection — there are many
scattered about this country — but there is none in which the splendor of imagination and the genius of
human fingers is shown quite so well in the delineation of one of Nature's sweetest moods.
MR. JOSEPH C. HOAGLAND'S COLLECTION.
Joseph C. Hoagland is a collector of much taste and discrimination, who made his purchases only
after thought. The first striking point in his canvases is the presence of a strong individuality on the
part of the gentleman who brought them together, an individuality as broad and liberal as are the canons of
true art themselves. Unfortunately, Mr. Hoagland has been too busy and too devoted to the collecting of
pictures to find time to have them catalogued, and consequently only a partial list can be given. But the
following names will serve to show in how liberal a spirit he has pursued his hunting pleasures into the
realms of art : Daubigny, Rousseau, John Phillip, Gainsborough, Kowalski, Henner, Troyon, Schreyer,
Mollinger, Lerolle, Yeend King, Leo Hermann, Van Marcke, Jules Breton, Corot, Monticelli, Neuhuys.
Diaz, Jules Dupre, James Price, C. E. Jacque, John Burr, G. Michel, O'Connor, H. W. Ranger, Houseman,
Wilson, Stortenbeker, J. F. Herring, H. Jacquette, E. J. Nieman, Herman Ten Kate, Marie Ten Kate,
Rozier, Niemann, H. P. Smith, Ogden Wood, Nicholas Maes, J. Richet, Burr H. Nichols. Of several of
these there are more than one example.
79S
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Many connoisseurs who have visited the gallery of their confrlre have been primarily attracted by his
pictures by Troyon and the latter's pupil Van Marcke, and one of the most exquisite of Daubignys there is
to be found. The Van Marcke occupies the place of honor, so far as the mere hanging is concerned, and is
admitted to be one of the finest, if not the finest example of this artist's brush during his best and most suc-
cessful period. One solitary Holstein cow fills the whole of the large canvas, with head erect, eye dilated
and yet soft, and body full of vigorous yet reposeful action. The drawing is superb, but the coloring, the
deep blacks and dead whites, and the sheen of light caught here and there in the satiny skin, are depicted
with a faithfulness entirely unsurpassable. The picture was purchased at the sale of the Graves collection.
The o-rand Troycm might well find a place by its side. It was sold in the Probasco collection in 1887, and
was also the subject of spirited bidding. It is called " The Approaching Storm," and measures sixty-
two inches by forty-four. Troyon painted this in 1859, and it is one of the few landscapes he painted
at that period, as he had already found that his cattle pieces, for some undefinable reason, secured a readier
"The Appkoaciii.ng Siorm," by Constantine Trovon.
sale. As to the Daubigny, " Le Fin du Mai," scarcely anything so exquisitely and poetically sweet can be
found in paint. It was painted in 1870, and Mr. Hoagland was fortunate to secure it at the sale of A. T.
Stewart's collection.
The Rousseau is small, but gives some of the best effects of this artist. It is a glen, overhung with
dense foliage, with here and there only a glimpse of gray sky. The example by the English artist John
Phillip is an impressionist study of a girl with a greyhound, which Mr. Hoagland picked up in Wales.
Kowalski shows his handiwork in a Russian scene, the horses and dogs demonstrating careful drawing and
accurate knowledge, and the Henner is probably the loveliest woman's head that was ever limned — a
small oval face shadowed with a mass of dark hair, round scjft eyes that pierce you like the shafts of
truth. As a conception of idealized feminine loveliness this will stand for all time. The splendid
action and color of Shreyer's " Arabs making a Charge " arrests the eye for a moment, and then comes
a pastoral which reminds you of Millet, even after you notice the signature of A. MoUinger in the corner.
It is a Millet subject, peasants returning home from their toil, and in its sympathetic, atmospheric effects
is very much like Millet in treatment. Differently handled is the picture of G. Lerolle, "Burning the
Weeds," which is a sombre evening on a lonely stubble field, illuminated by the flame and drifting smoke
from the burning piles of weeds. There is a dainty bit of English scenery by Yeend King, and a genre
picture, by Leo Hermann, called " L'Incroyable."
Jules Breton is well represented in a large canvas showing cattle and a peasant girl in a noonday
reverie ; and near to it is one of Corot's bosky, balsam-laden woods, into the cool shadow of which the
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 799
sun scarcely penetrates. Another scene in the wild wood, but flooded with sunshine, is by A. Monticelli,
and was painted before that artist went entirely crazy on gorgeous coloring. Another by the same artist
shows a group of pretty girls in a garden, with rosy cupids gamboling at their feet. There are three
Dutch interiors by Neuhuys, all of which show painstaking study and niceties of detail, and a nice bit of
English scenery in the early autumn represents James Price. Another scene of rural content is by Jacque,
and acknowledged to be one of his best. This work comes from the Thomas Howell collection.
Although Mr. Hoagland shares his love for the fine arts with a passion for yachting, there are but
few marines in his collection. There is one, certainly, which is a masterpiece of its kind, and perhaps
this satisfies him. It is by Jules Dupre, and is justly celebrated. It is of the sea as only a seaman sees
it, far away from land in the playground of the storms. This is after a storm, when the sea's loud,
angry growls are changed to moans, and it heaves and pants with the passion spent. It is one of a few
of Dupre's marines which are really masterly, and Mr. Hoagland's keen sympathy with the sea gives it,
in his eyes, an additional value. His Diaz is also a good one, and forms the strongest kind of a con-
trast to the Dupre. It is a pastoral scene of great beauty, in which nature in her most resplendent raiment
lies down amid her works for an afternoon nap. There is also an exceedingly pretty landscape by J. Richet,
who was a pupil of Diaz, and who in this work, at least, shows the influence of the master.
For many years it was said in England that no man could paint horses, or ever had painted them,
as faithfully as J. F. Herring did, and there are many cosmopolitan connoisseurs who hold that in this
he has no superior. Very few of his pictures have been permitted to come to this country, and the one
in this collection is something to be proud of. It is of the days Charles Dickens loved to go back to,
when the arrival of the stage-coach in a town was an event. Herring here portrays "Changing Horses,"
the first mail coach from Winchester to Portchester, a village midway where the horses take their pound
of oat meal in lukewarm water, and the red-nosed driver " takes his hot, he does." The inn is a low, white-
washed building roofed with thatch, and in the inn yard are scattered a few yokels in the twine-
embroidered smock-frocks, now fast disappearing. As an episode des moeurs the picture tells a story of
increasing interest as time rolls on, but the close observation and artistic skill shown in the portrayal of
the horses will be a study of moment for all artists for all time. There is a fine example of P. Storten-
beker of the Hague, " On the Dikas in Holland," which was painted to order when Mr. Hoagland was
in Holland in 1890. Its peculiarity is the wondrous luminous effect of the sky, which casts its lights
and shadows over the dikes, dotted with well-drawn cattle.
There is not space to describe all the good pictures in this collection, but it is pleasing to add that
American artists also find a somewhat prominent place in it. There is a Richard Creifels, a head of "The
Old Captain " — a strong work with remarkable coloring ; a farmyard scene by H. \V. Ranger, who
somehow has made a greater reputation by his water colors; a pleasing landscape by H. P. Smitii, and a
comedy in colors by Burr H. Nichols. Who painted the portrait of Alfred the Great will probably never be
known. Mr. Hoagland purchased it upon its artistic value, as he did a large picture of the court lady of
the time of the Seventh Earl of Derby, and several others. Weedon Grossmith — where is there one who
has spent any time in the metropolis of Great Britain who does not know him as the prince of drawing-
room entertainers ? Yet here he figures as an artist in oil, picturing a youth spinning a teetotum.
Whether he intended it or not, it is something of an allegory on his own history.
There is another point which belongs to art if it does not to pictures. Mr. Hoagland's library is
wainscoted from top to bottom with the finest specimen of carved oak work to be found in this country.
In pursuit of art he found this in an old convent in Belgium. It is in panel, and a heavy cornice has
been made in this country to match it. In the bric-a-brac of the room good taste is shown to keep every-
thing in harmony with this handsome antique workmanship, and even the stained glass windows are
interesting in that ornaments of exquisite coloring are shown in them, being fac-similes of the book-marks
of the old bibliophiles.
MR. JOHN B. LADD'S COLLECTION.
John B. Ladd began collecting pictures in 1877, and now his house at No. 246 Henry street is nearly filled
with them. He has bought as a gentleman buys, for his own recreation and pleasure, and has been courageous
enough to base his own judgment on the merits of the works themselves, rather than follow so-called expert
judgment or be influenced by mere names, which, it sometimes happens, attain a certain popularity by the
adroit puffery of dealers. For all this, in his collection are to be found examples of many of the most
famous of modern French painters— some of those well-known and some only just creeping up among the
artists of other countries of Europe — and some excellent examples of home talent. In fine, it is a miscel-
laneous collection, in which every work is of merit, and all possess an interest to genuine art lovers.
Such a collection, in the absence of any classified catalogue, can be only treated in a general way, and
works of more than ordinary merit have to be passed with a mere mention in order to give an idea of the
Soo
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
wide range which the collection covers. There are, to begin with, some excellent examples of the Barbizon
school. The most important of these is a Corot, a scene at Mantes, which very finely exhibits the best
qualities of this artist. It shows a broad country road grassed on either side, and peasants lazily gossip-
ing; in the background, the tops of the houses, and the spire of the old cathedral showing above the foli-
age. A Van Marcke, which came direct from the artist's sale last year, shows a cleverly drawn horse
and the village smithy. It has a charming out-of-door feeling, and expresses more than some of his more
closely finished pictures. Jacque is represented in a small interior, done at his best period, and a more
important work, called " The Approaching Storm." The cloud effects in the latter are wonderfully good,
light filtering through the dark sky in patches, and falling on the flock of sheep in the middle foreground.
The Daubigny is small, but the quality is very fine. It depicts summer in the fields, not far from Paris. Of
the Holland school a strong and interesting Israels and two superb examples by Mauve, who died in 1889.
One of the best pictures of Eugene Ciceri, called " Spring at Daybreak," is found here, and a pendant
which has the soft brown tones of autumn for a motive. For spirited action and glow of color, " The
Attack," by A. Pasini, is to be very highly commended. A regiment of horse is rushing pell-mell, all
crowded together, through a narrow defile, kicking up a cloud of desert sand, and in the background is
the smoke of battle but a short distance away. It is a masterpiece of conception and execution.
After this an Inness, called " A Cloudy Day," a gentle pastoral with cattle, rests the eye and calms the
excitement of enthusiasm. It is painted with that individuality of poetic thought which gives the place of
first eminence in American art, and it has all the strength and vigor of a Dupre without at all reminding
you of that other great artist's handiwork. Near it is a sunset landscape by A. H. Wyant which, when the
light of fading day is on it has the peculiar characteristic of Mr. Chapman's celebrated Rousseau, and
seems to take on new life in the illumination of the sky by the reflection of the sun's last ruddy glow. The
foreground is a wood, the crowded details of which are made apparent without any nicety of paint. Horatio
Walker, another American, has a picture called " After the Rain." It is somewhat after the Dutch school.
The clever handling of the cow and calf in the foreground is worthy of the artist, who has been called the
" Mantes," ky Jean B. C. Corot.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 3oi
best cattle painter of this country. There is an excellent Rico, a Venetian scene, of course, but it is less
architectural and in many respects more pleasing in its sentiment than many of his works. There is an
important work by Richard Pauli, a young American, a pretty moonlight scene not far from Englewood,
N. J.; Bolton Jones has a " Landscape with Cattle," near Cape Ann ; a gem by Arthur Quartley, "Dawn
at Sea," and a small Carleton Wiggins remarkably rich in tone.
Among other excellent examples are : The famous old mill at Venice, by Santoro ; figure of a soldier, by
E. Berne-Bellecour ; a head by F. Dielman ; " The Gunning Season," by Leonard Ochtman ; an important
work by Hugo Kaufmann, full of dry humor ; " Christmas Morning," by Seignac ; " Scandinavian Girl," by
Carl Sierig ; E. Grison's celebrated painting, " At the Antiquarian's ; " an old country garden by Pelouse,
who died in 1891 ; " The Wood Cutter's Cabin," by Jacomin, a little gem ; a magnificent woodland scene,
by Sanchez-Perrier, painted in 1888 ; " Distraite," figure of a charming face shrouded in black lace, by
Claudie ; "Boulevard des Capucines, Paris," by Jean Beraud ; "The Stirrup Cup," an important work by
J. A. Walker, the English artist who was born in the West Indies, and paints after the French school ;
"Scene in the Franco-German War," by Chr. Sell, who has been called the German Meissonier ; "The
Astronomer," by Paul Burmeister, and a number of water colors of the Dutch school and original etchings
by well-known artists.
Mr. Ladd has also a fine collection of old Chinese porcelains, some rare pieces in solid colors, and
blue and white.
HON. CARLL H. DeSILVER'S COLLECTION.
Carll H. DeSilver has in his residence, at No. 43 Pierrepont street, quite a number of excellent canvases
which he has gathered together during the past fifteen years. His collection seems to show a decided taste
for landscapes which subtly depict the more tender beauties of nature, and of the modern French school
he has several good examples, as well as of leading American artists who paint this mood. But the walls
are by no means monotonous either in tone or subject. Here and there are impressionist bits of gay color
and remarkably fine figure pictures. Conspicuous among the latter is " The Mirror of Nature," by Leon
Perrault, in which the well-drawn and captivating figures have a background of the sweetest charm. The
" Mirror " is a rock-bound, pellucid spring, reflecting two pretty girls in gay Italian costume, bending over
it, one of whom is gently dabbling her foot in the cool water. Another sylvan scene of great beauty hang-
ing near it, is by A. H. Wyant, who has become the pictorial chronicler of the magnificent scenery of
the Adirondack wilderness. Its value can be judged from the fact that it was sent to Paris as a represen-
tative American landscape, and received a medal.
Daubigny, the master poet of the twilight, is seen here in an unusual phase, for among all his pictures
there are few of the beauty of the moonlight. In the treatment of light, air, color and feeling this picture
is regarded as Daubigny's masterpiece, and there lies in it an additional interest in the fact that it was one
of the last canvases upon which he recorded his title to undying fame. The first picture Mr. De Silver
bought, and therefore one of reminiscent interest, is a pietty love story by Professor Amberg, of Berlin,
called "A Question of the Heart." Of Kowalski there is a good representation; a mounted hunter and
two dogs in a wintry landscape ; of Carleton Wiggins, a small landscape with cattle ; of Rico, " A Venetian
Palace," small but showing as much of his rare quality as do his larger pictures ; of Sanchez-Perrier, a little
scene that is full of sparkle and brilliancy.
The Vibert in Mr. De Silver's collection is also an admirable example. It is called " Embarras du
Choix," and represents a Cardinal before a massive bronze vase filled with flowers. For accuracy both of
drawing and coloring, and for elegance in their arrangement, these flowers cannot be surpassed. The
Cardinal's figure is in itself a study for artists, for in the robe there are no less than eight shades of red
harmoniously blended. Another great color picture is " The Children's Toilet," by Vacslav Brozik, a pupil of
Munkacsy, and son-in-law of Mr. Seidelmeyer, of Paris. Mr. De Silver's example of this artist is a domestic
scene, the nurse washing the baby, and another baby who has just gone through the ordeal, with other
interesting details. Tito Lessi is a young Italian who undoubtedly will have a future if "The Mandolin
Player," a careful study of color, is to be taken as a characteristic example. There are two little figure
pieces by Bruc-Lajos and Leo Hermann, and a small Diaz showing a stormy sky and moist landscape ;
a Russian snow scene by Jan Chelminski ; a " Friar of Orders Grey," a study with a gleam of humor in it
by Tamborini ; " Head of An Armenian Girl," by Grogeart ; a pretty landscape by Henry P. Smith, and an
interesting souvenir of Wm. M. Chase. This last is a picture of his own studio, so well-known to art lovers,
and shows a young girl turning over the leaves of a huge volume of his sketches and color schemes.
That most charming of early pastoral romances, " The Vicar of Wakefield," is recalled by a portrait of
" Olivia," by George H. Boughton. It is a large picture, and represents Olivia bashfully drawing a letter
from her bosom to hide it in the trunk of an adjacent tree for her lover. Two water colors, " The Wine
Taster," by Vibert, and "// maime il ne maime pas," a girl plucking the petals of a daisy, by de Curvillon,
represent two of the leading aquarellists of France by fine examples of their deft handiwork. A little
802
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
'^/*f^„';ii
' i
J
1
1;
fe^--- --■ ,->;*^^%-' ' ■
_i*jSK>'«>^'Vt;5;;t
"The Mirror of Nature," bv Leo.n Perrault.
picture of dogs, by Armfield, an English artist, tells its story well ; R. W. Van Boskerck is represented in
a Dutch scene ; David Johnson by a landscape of great merit ; Grison, by a carefully finished picture
called "The Reader," and J. R. Goubie, by a work which demonstrates his title to fam.e as the foremost
French illustrator of "high-life" equestrianism. Another Frenchman, Croche-Pierre, has here a canvas
entitled " Meditation," which is a masterly exhibit of close detail in portraiture ; and a fruit piece of great
richness of color is signed in the corner Marston Ream.
Among the rooms which these pictures fill with an atmosphere of good taste and refinement, you will
also see specimens of Gobelin tapestry, fine Bohemian glass, English cameos, Chinese jade, an interesting
cabinet of family miniatures, one by Rembrandt Pearle, who painted many of Washington and his family,
and some more recent ones by Gerald Hayward, an Englishman who is devoting himself to this branch of
art in America, and whose work has done so much in the revival of the interest in and the taste for miniature
painting, which has recently become noteworthy.
MR. JOHN S. JAMES'S COLLECTION.
A collection which is almost entirely made up of modern French and American examples is that of Mr.
John S. James, at No. 6 Pierrepont street. Mr. James has been collecting for a few years only ; but that
his taste and judgment are recognized among the art lovers of Brooklyn is indicated by his three
successive elections as president of the Rembrandt Club. It was at one of the meetings of this influential
art club that Mr. James found a text to guide him in the selection of pictures for the beautifying of his
home and the elevation and recreation of his life. William M. Chase, the justly celebrated New York
artist, was addressing the club, and in the course of his advice to its members said : " Don't be guided by
any school or names, or by anybody. When you see a good picture buy it on your own judgment. This
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
803
will give you much more pleasure in after years and do much more to develop a true taste." Mr. James
has rigorously followed this advice, and still continues to find pleasure in doing so. His collection is not
large, but among the artists represented are good examples of the works of Becker, Beraud, Mme. Demont-
Breton, Domingo-Munoz, Enrique-Serra, Goubie, Grison, Hagborg, Jacquet, Kowalski, Lesrel, Schreyer,
Van Boskerck, Vibert, A. F. Bellows, Bierstadt, Bridgeman, W. M. Chase, W. A. Coffin, Bolton Jones,
David Johnson, Percy Moran, Pauli, Walter Satterlee, Henry P. Smith, F. Hopkinson Smith and Carleton
Wiggins.
The first picture which strikes you on a visit to his collection, partly from its position, is a large and
important Breton, not one of the famous Jules, but of his talented daughter Madame Demont-Breton. Mr.
James has a large and important work of hers called '■^ Le Premier Pas'' It is the first step of a chubby
babe, and the little journey is made along the knees of the proud and happy mother, as she leans back
in her chair and laughs until the apple blossoms overhead quiver with her joy. It is in the painting of chil-
dren that this artist is at her best.
The example of Kagborg is an unusual one, as this great Swedish painter usually devotes his talent
to coast scenes and fishermen. This is a smoothly painted and prettily colored picture of an aristocratic
garden, with a gay gallant, cocked hat tucked under arm, making love to a lady fair in tender blue,
blushing when her stern papa appears on the terrace. Of Kowalski, the Polish painter of horses and
hunting, there is a small but excellent example, the hounds in full cry among the turnips, the huntsman's
horse just rising for the fence. It is full of splendid life and action, and the flat landscape is breezily and
charmingly treated, " The Oaks," by David Johnson, who is very widely known as a landscape artist, is very
like a Rousseau in its tender tones ; and another artist's work, worthy of being ranked with the famous
Barbizons, is that of Carleton Wiggins, who after some years study in Paris returned to this country
one of the best equipped cattle painters of America. In this example the sheep are handled with masterly
i- S£^m^\'^'Si'=tmif--'-''''^''"-''^-r^\ -I
The SURPKisK," by Hagborg.
8o4
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
skill but it is as a quiet pastoral, a scene in the Barbizon district, with its beautiful atmosphere effects of
evening, that it is most to be prized.
Percy Moran is represented by a well-known work, called " Day Dreams." It is of a New England
interior, a girl sitting in the wide window-seat, dreaming and watching the apple trees wave in the summer
sunshine. There is a spinning wheel, some geraniums in pots, and an atmosphere of contented home
life about the whole which is charming. " The Orange Dance," by Enrique-Serra, shows a harem scene
full of contrasts and harmonies of color. Bierstadt is represented by a sunset picture in the San Joaquin
Valley, with Mount Diablo in the distance ; and Walter Satterlee by two pretty figures arranging flowers,
called " Easter Morning." Frederick A. Bridgeman, who began his artist life as a regular attendant at
the night school of the Brooklyn Art Association, shows his clever brush in the figures of a languishing
Algerine ; and another Brooklynite, who studied marine under De Haas, and after a sojurn abroad is
now beginning. to be called the American Rico, is well represented by an ambitious picture of Venice. This
is Warren Shepherd. It is a picture of the Golden Palace, silhouetted against the blue sky and reflected on
the silvery surface of the grand canal. The architecture of the palace, by the way, should be well known to
Brooklyn's citizens, as it is pretty closely copied in the design of the Montauk Club House.
Harry Chase, one of our most distinguished marine painters, has also a Venetian scene ; it is of sail-
boats, and is one of his best examples. W. A. Coffin, one of the best art critics and lecturers on art in the
country, a pupil of Bonnat, is represented by a work which he calls " Palm Sunday " — peasants in a narrow
street waiting for the priest's benediction as he heads a procession just emerging from the church door.
The figures are splendidly drawn, and the coloring is rich and harmonious. William M. Chase has a pretty
scene in Prospect Park, and F. Hopkinson Smith " A Gondola Landing." H. Bolton Jones has a picture
of early spring, juicy and crisp, and evidently entirely painted out of doors. Goubie, a French artist of
the modern school who has made his great hit by equestrian scenes, and whose picture, " The Presentation
of the Stag's Foot," was one of the prizes of the Stebbin's sale, is showing in a pleasing study of an after-
noon ride. There is a study in red by Vibert, a carman lolling and smoking a cigarette ; an excellent
example of Hooper, the English artist, called " After the Shower." A painting by Jan V. Chelminski, "The
Reconnaissance," mounted scouts scouring across a level plain of snow, which not only shows his clever
handling of the horse but some capital landscape effects; a beautiful little Lesrel called "The Color
Bearer; " a large picture by Domingo-Munoz, called " The Spy's Report; " a little genre by Grison ; and a
first rate Schreyer, an Arab scout, remarkably clever and spirited in action. Jean Beraud is represented by
a realistic scene in the church of the Magdelene, Paris — two figures in black, a devotee, and a charming
mondaine ; and Sanchez-Perier shows a study of soft spring greens which is not so minute in its treatment and
possesses a greater depth of treatment and sympathetic effects than most of his pictures. He has been called
the Meissonier of Spain. There are also in the collection a number of important water colors by A. F. Bel-
lows, Walter Satterlee, Neill Mitchell, and others, including one by Story, which is of interest as one of his
early efforts as an artist.
Besides his presidency of the Rembrandt Club, Mr. James also fills the office of the Vice-President of
the Brooklyn Art Association, and is a trustee of the Museum of Arts and Sciences.
MR. ALEXANDER BARRIE'S COLLECTION.
The collection of Mr. Alexander Barrie, of No. ii6 Montague street, is an excellent illustration of the
value of care and good taste in selection, maintaining a high standard, and improving that standard by
judicious weeding out and replacing good examples with better ones. Mr. Barrie's taste grows and
advances with the advancement of art itself, and in his broad love for art he has made it his aim to keep
abreast of the times.
Two of the most important works in point of size and in some other respects are the landscapes by
George Inness and A. H. Wyant. These are of special interest for purposes of comparison, from the fact
that both were commission pictures and both were painted at about the same time. This was in 1890, and
the works therefore represent the ripened judgment and skill of the artists. The Innes is called " Sunset
Seen Through the Georgia Pines," and its depth of tone and tender feeling make it one of the most
emotional renderings of the poetry of the death of day that has ever been limned. The Wyant is also a
local scene, an early morning near Crofts, N. Y., that matches in size and quality with his choice specimen
of Inness — a wide landscape, in which nothing is accented beyond the foreground, but where one warms
in the rays of sun poured through an air that is softly grayed and brightened with mist. A pool, trees and
column of smoke lazily drifting upward, far away, are in the composition, and the sky is lightly mottled.
It is a work full of subtleties, but in its effect large, serene and pure ; a picture that has something new for
the beholder every day.
These two canvases are in themselves a proof that Mr. Barrie in his collection places quality before
quantity. In this respect the work of Pokitonow, who has been called the Meissonier of Russian landscape.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
805
is a large picture in a small space. It was painted in Paris, and shows a widespreading plain, dotted with
ricks and with farm buildings in the distance. Across the middle ground a shepherd is conducting his
flock ; merely little dots they are, but they bear the force of the magnifying glass, and come out under it
with a perfection of detail that leads one to think the artist may have worked with such a glass.
In Emilio Sanchez-Perrier's " Midsummer Noon," the bank rising from the roadside is protected by a
wall of rough stones, with a picket fence upon the top. Beyond the fence is seen a glimpse of the vegeta-
tion of a farm garden. Steps of stone lead through the wall from the road to the level of the garden, and
on the right hand an end of the cottage appears. It is the dead hour of a midsummer day. The old farm-
house and its inmates doze together in the drowsy heat, while nature pants in the broad glare from a sky
which blazes in a vast blue expanse of ether unspotted by a cloud. The road is deserted, and no wandering
\
■T
w
'f
h
i
' 'flP
■"b«i-
^"W
■r^
f
I
.jMC/BV^9k4&^^^^.M«
1
1
^ii&t^y
Vi, J-—
^^ j-J^C-JA./
/i/^njf^
j^Wk
i
" Venice,' UY Maktin Rico.
feet stir the dry dust that powders wayside weeds and grass. The sun is supreme master of the scene,
which it rules with a scepter of fire.
Rico is represented by one of his admirable Venetian compositions, which with Brooklyn collectors
seem to find favor. It shows the Royal Gardens, with gondolas passing on the calm, bright water, the over-
hanging trees and characteristic Venetian architecture in marble, lighted by a sun that fills the air with a
lazy heat. A capital rural picture, which tells a pleasing story of boys bird-nesting, is by Dargelas. The
cool shade of the woods is made to be felt, and the figures of the boys in the trees are excellently drawn. A
picture which forms a contrast to this is a lively bit of bright color by Professor W. Pelten, a Russian, who
paints in Munich, representing a lumbering country coach stopped by a single highwayman. The life and
action of the horses are very striking.
An interior by J. A. Grison is a tale of the dead bird and the quarrel over it. The owner is making her
plaint, the dead pet in its wicker cage at her feet, and a big countrywoman is angrily defending herself.
The scene is the library of the manor house, and the fat old lord and the lean old notary who are trying
the momentous case are marvels of character painting. The pose of the figures, too, and the careful detail
of the library shelves and fire-place show this to be one of Grison's best efforts. A leash of hunting dogs
by O. DePenne is clean in drawing, clear in color — fine fellows with bright eyes and panting throats,
dappled with yellow and white and tied to a tree biding their time when the hunt shall begin. It might be
contrasted with the two terriers by Troyon, if there were any grounds of comparison. The latter is a little
gem. There is an example by Ottenfeld, of Munich, who also paints in miniature, called "The Tile
Painter," which is a great lesson in subdued harmonies in color, and an excellent landscape, as bright and
clear as a summer morning, by F. Cordero, a young Spanish painter. E. Munier is represented by a small
8o6
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
canvas which in tone and modeling reminds one very forcibly of Bougue-reau. It is called "Coming from
the Orchard," a figure of a pretty girl with a basket of red, ripe fruit and a white pigeon on her shoulder.
A good example of George Michel is "A French Village." There is a stream in the foreground, and the
little white village is thrown up by a hill of tilled corn behind it, on which the only light in the picture
falls. It is one of the few Michels in this country selected for an illustrated article for the pages of the
Century Magazine on the works of this e.xtraordinary genius, whom it has required two generations of
artistic education for the public to appreciate.
A small figure piece in which the posing and the texture of the ladies' dresses show an exquisitely deli-
cate touch, is called "Conversation," and shows three figures seated before a fire-place. It is a fine
example of the careful pencil of Bakolowicz. Next to it hangs a Jules Dupre— a river scene with cattle on
the bank and heavy clouds passing overhead, is painted with dash and strength, which shows in a measure
the force of that great master.
Filippo Palazzi, a native of the Abruzzi, who has influenced for good a number of the contemporary
Italian painters, and who shows a needed spirit of sincerity in the Italian school, has a capital little figure
on the palette of an old man praying before a large book, the light of a concealed candle striking into his
face and evoking the lines and hollows that give it a worn and weary expression. The white and scattered
locks, the roughened cheeks, the knotted, bony hands, have been copied with a patient enthusiasm that
recalls the Durer of old and the Meissonier of to-day.
Of Alberto Pasini. there is " A Constantinople Market." C. Van Haanen, an Austro-Dutchman, of whom
little is seen in this country, has a couple of faggot gatherers, a woman and child, who form a picture that
in treatment recalls Munkacsy, though it is more careful. The Berne-Bellecour is a French soldier in gray
fatigue uniform, with red cap on head, standing guard with drawn sabre. There is an easy martial pose,
and the figure is detached with rare skill from the drill ground, heights and barracks that appear beyond.
Hamilton Gibson's water color shows the Connecticut hills and vales that he fihds near his home ; copious
foliage and ground growth, a distant house or so, a bright sky ; in all, serenity and content. Hoboken,
with its wealth of smells and trying populace, has in its Elysian Fields one of the rarest sketching grounds
within fifty miles of New York, though civilization is beginning to prose along its water front. Abandoned
boats, whose holds still shelter the needy and unwashed, and ancient after-cabins dragged from the hulKs
and set up on either side of a narrow lane, where humble trades are carried on, invite the sketcher and
painter to put their picturesqueness and inconsistency on record before they disappear. Arthur Quartley
went there in the course of his restless search for subjects, and Mr. Barrie has a trophy of his visit in the
picture of an old wreck moldering on the muddy beach, with a well-rendered bit of distance behind — grate-
ful yet forcible in grays.
Mr. Barrie has also made a careful selection of water colors. Among the principal names are : Arthur
Quartley, W. Hamilton Gibson, Charles Mente, Delancey Gill, G. C. Curran, G. Vizzotto, and M. Pagani,
the latter a magnificent piece of coloring, representing a feast day in Venice, showing a brilliant group
of people in a market place.
MR. GEORGE C. BARCLAY'S COLLECTION.
An interesting collection of some thirty-five numbers is that of Mr. George C, Barclay, of No. 160 Remsen
street. It is princ'pally made up of the works of foreign artists, but American art also finds a prominent
place in it. Of the latter David Johnson, Inness, Wyant, Edward Moran, Wiggins, M. F. H. DeHaas and J.
G. Brown are well represented, and hang fearlessly alongside Troyon, Corot, Jacque and Diaz and other
European masters. In fact, Mr. Barclay is remarkably cosmopolitan in his art, and believes in possessing
whatever is beautiful in art rather than in narrowing his taste and scope to certain phases of it.
The Carleton Wiggins example shows a flock of sheep flecked with sunshine. It evinces careful study
of animal life, and in both tone and technique is one of the best pictures this artist has sent from his easel.
Another painting of sheep, by Anton Mauve, is hung on the opposite wall. It is early evening and the
shepherd is driving his flock into the fold for the night. Everything is still and subdued ; no breeze waves
the leafless branches that stand out against the cold, gray sky. Day is dead ; night is not yet born.
Although Mr. Barclay has many excellent canvases, this one ought to be given the place of honor as the
gem of his collection. In the breadth of execution, simplicity of material, and close observations of the
variations of nature which characterize Mauve's later works, this is one of his masterpieces.
The Corot is one of that artist's middle period, before he begain to paint his famous silver-grays. It is
soft and full of tender feeling. The Diaz is remarkable for its depth and strength. It is a somewhat
sombre autumn scene, a woodland road, the light falling in a broad patch in the centre of the picture. The
Troyon is an excellent example of cattle, to the excellence of which the landscape is subordinated. The
Jacque is a small canvas, but strong and poetic. It is an evening scene, with sheep coming down to drink
at the stream in the foreground.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 807
The landscapes by Inness and Wyant are both important works, painted on commission but a few years
ago. Both possess all the best points of these famous landscapists, and no better examples of their brushes
are to be found. They are both large canvases. "The Secret," by Merle, cleverly contrasts the modeling
and flesh coloring of a deep brunette and a blonde and that of a child. The figures are beautiful, and the
lines and folds of their drapery and the scheme of color are remarkably skillful and harmonious. Orison's
"The Beggar's Song" is a little canvas in which ten figures are prettily posed. It is a brilliant garden
party, in which the gaiety is arrested for a moment by the appearance of a tattered old beggar in the fore-
ground. Another little figure picture, great in its clever limning of facial expression, is " The Connoisseurs,"
by L. G. Brillouin. Gerome is represented by the single figure of an old French juge d' instruction, in " Deep
Thought," which is the title ; and a Tamburini by an old monk leaning back in his leather chair and finding
"Solid Comfort" in his pipe.
Among other important works which limitation of space forbids mentioning to the length their merits
would warrant, are an excellent landscape by David Johnson; "The Rat Hunt," by David Col; a
Verboeckhoven landscape with sheep and poultry, very cleverly executed ; a grand example of A. Passani's
color in "A Persian Market;" "Cows," by T. Sydney Cooper, of London; horse in a stable by W. Ver-
schuur, which shows close study and skillful handling; a glow of bold coloring in a garden party by
Monticelli ; a good cow picture by Carleton Wiggins called "The Summer Storm ;" "Teaching the Black-
bird," by Jiminez Y. Aranda, and view of distant Paris by A. VoUon. "The Music Lesson," painted in
Rome by Guerra, will arrest the attention for some time, and there is one of J. G. Brown's famous figure
pieces called " Too Old to Mend." For its color and strength, " A Pool in the Adirondacks," by W. Casi-
lear, is worthy of mention, and the Hagborg, " The First Born," showing a coast scene with boatman and
wife and baby, and cold water and cold sky, will bear careful scrutiny, It is in every way an excellent
example. Other notable works are " Preparing for the Chase," by Charles Van Falen ; "Contemplation,"
by Leon Y. Escosura ; " Tara's Harp," by Isno Kemendy ; farm scene by Eniile Lambinet, in which the
willows stand out so powerfully that you can feel them wave in the light breeze ; " Morning, Casco Bay,"
by Edward Moran ; " Sunset on the Coast of France," by M. F. H. DeHaas ; and a spirited water color
by Detaille.
It wdl be seen that with but very few exceptions all these canvases bear the names of artists of renown,
and furthermore they are as excellent examples of their works as could be obtained.
THE LATE EDWARD A. SECCOMB'S COLLECTION.
The late Edward A. Seccomb, of whose life a sketch appears elsewhere, was a most enthusiastic
American. He carried his patriotism even into his home, and as Claude Melnotte says in his wooing
of " The Lady of Lyons," " We'll have no friends that are not lovers," so this American gentleman said
of his taste for art : " I love best the gems produced by my countrymen." His may be called, therefore,
an American collection. He had but few examples of the works of foreign artists. But his collection
bristles with the efforts of the best brushwork this country has yet produced. Among their names are
Harry Chase, Edmund C. Tarbell, Carleton Wiggins, C. Harry Eaton, Fred S. Cozzens, Mrs. Julia Dillon,
C. Morgan Mcllheney, C, Melville Dewey, Walter Blackmore, F. S. Church, D. W. Tryon, W. Bliss Baker,
Leonard Ochtman (a Dutchman who has adopted this country, or has been adopted by it), G. H. Smith,
George Inness, F. A. Bridgman, Kate Langdon, Francis C. Jones, VV. Hamilton Gibson, A. F. Tait, Alfred
Kappes, C. Y. Turner, Eastman Johnson, Henry Mosler, Will H. Low, W. L. Palmer, Elliot Dangerfield, J.
Francis Murphy, Professor Niemeyer, Harriet B. Kellogg. E. H. Blashfield, H. Bolton Jones, R. M. Shurt-
leff, A. H. Wyant, Joseph Lyman, ^Varren Shepherd, F. Hopkinson Smith, G. H. Smillie, and Homer
Martin.
These well-known names are in themselves sufficient to demonstrate the value and importance of this
collection, and Mr. Seccomb hoped that in course of time it might become one of the important American
collections of the country. The " Marine," by Harry Chase, a scene off New Bedford, called " Running Free,"
was etched by Leon Moran, some time ago, and is therefore familiar. But those who have seen it in black
and white only will deem it a privilege to see in the original the life and color and breezy atmosphere
which are its charm. The Tarbell picture, " After the Ball," took the Thomas B. Clarke prize at the
New York Academy of Design, in 1890. It is a single figure, excellent in anatomy and in the conveyance
of the expression of thought, and also in its novel scheme of light. The landscape and cattle by Wiggins,
in its clever drawing and tender morning atmosphere, is worthy to hang with the Troyons and Van Marckes.
There is another of his, equally meritorious, of twilight with sheep. Harry Eaton's picture is of an early
morning, saturated with dew ; and for sweet poetry there is scarcely anything to compare with the shep-
herdess with the lamb which hangs next to it, which is one of the dainty conceptions of F. S. Church.
Bliss Baker, who made a name by the time he was twenty-one and then was taken away, has one of his
best works in this collection. The Inness was painted as late as 1888, and possesses, as do all his works,
8o8
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
an undying charm of pastoral beauty. D. W. Tryon is said to be one of the coming men of American
art and this example of his work stands a chance of becoming valuable. Ochtman's " Early Morning "
shows a Corot delicacy and gentleness, and there is another fine picture of his called " A Passing Cloud."
Of F \ Bridgman there is a splendid example, a scene of Eastern life painted to order in 1883. There are
two pictures by Bolton Jones (a particularly good one called " Early Spring "), and also two by his brother,
Francis C. Jones. Kate Langdon, who was a pupil of Bolton Jones, is also seen in two excellent land-
scapes. Most of these pictures are too well known to need description. There is, for instance, C. Y. Turner's
" The Song ; " it should be called " The Singer," but for the clever effect by which the song is made to fill,
not only the enthusiasm of the pretty woman who sings, but the whole of her surroundings. Then there is
Alfred Kappes' little picture, " Mending his Ways," a white headed negro with a well-worn sock on his
hand; Eastman Johnson's "Girl with a Rabbit," and Bricher's "Home of the Gulls," and scene off the
Cattle and Landscape, by Carleton Wiggins.
marine coast near Bar Harbor. There are two very good examples of Smillie's best work in landscape, and
Tait's sketch of Adirondack scenery is of great merit. Mosler shows a carefully painted picture of a
female head, and Will H. Low a study in pink, a pretty girl gathering field poppies. The Palmer picture
is a lovely little snow scene, and Elliot Dangerfield's representative is a splendid realization of the glorious
color effects of vari-colored chrysanthemums. Warren Sheppard, "the Brooklyn Boy," is of course well
represented in this American gallery, and almost equally of course it is by a scene under the dreamy skies
of the Adriatic. Blashfield's picture is a bold design in color of three cleverly drawn girls dancing on
juicy grapes with their shapely feet to press them into wine — another contribution of a successful Brooklyn
artist. There are a number of good pictures by other prominent artists of the day : A little gem by J. M.
Barnsley, one of W. L. Bradford's "Land of the Midnight Sun," a figure piece by J. H. Witt, and another by
Rudolph Epp ; a Van Schaick that resembles a Vibert, and in some respects is superior in execution ; two
examples of W. L. Peckwell ; a lovely picture of a June morning by M. Waterman ; a still, quiet pool in the
Adirondacks, with beautiful effects, by A. H. Wyant ; a Spanish piece by Josu Jiminez ; a Siddons Mowbray
called " The Siesta," in which the modeling of the two girls is remarkably fine ; a Gessa fruit-piece, glorious
in delicate coloring (the only example of this artistic work in the country); and a Kowalski called "The
Polish Lisurgents," which is a country scene in which every person and every animal is full of life and
motion, and the seriousness of the marauders is tempered with the spice of humor.
In every respect the collection is one of which Brooklyn may well be proud, both for its merit and for
the fact that it was gathered by one who was a most liberal patron of native art. This account of it was
prepared with Mr. Seccomb's cooperation, before his death.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 809
MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
That the inhabitants of Broolilyn are and liave been a music-loving people is a statement which needs no
argument or proof. Although little record has been made of the earlier associations and clubs devoted to
the cultivation of musical art and taste, yet we may believe that this was rather due to a general poverty of
chronicles and chroniclers than to any lack of material. Unfortunately, however, that material was suffered
to be lost. From the time that de Beauvois, the schoolmaster, taught the choir of the ancient Dutch
church to fit the sacred strains of psalm tunes, approved by the Synod of Dortrecht, to the intricacies of
the Hollandish vocabulary; from the days when the children of all the "Vans "and the " sens " made
melody in praise of St. Nicholas around the Christmas fire, to the time of oratorios and symphonies of glee
clubs and philharmonic societies, of operas and concerts, Brooklyn has fostered the love of music and has
multiplied opportunities for its study and enjoyment.
About the first and almost the only early association of any prominence about which we have accurate
information was the Brooklyn Sacred Music Society, which gave the oratorios of "Samson" and the
"Messiah" at Plymouth Church, and performed the "Seven Sleepers" of Karl Lowe in the hall of the old
academy on the site of the present Packer Institute. Of this society the late Luther B. Wyman was presi-
dent and Paul K. Weitzel was musical conductor.
The organization of the Philharmonic Society marked a new era in the musical life of Brooklyn.
The initiatory steps were taken in 1857. Theretofore Brooklyn had been dependent mainly upon New
York for instrumental music of a high grade. The New York society was organized by the musicians, who
divided the net receipts among themselves. If they were successful, theirs was the gain ; but if unprofitable
pecuniarily, the loss was borne by the individual members. As the principal performers resided in New
York, Brooklyn was dependent upon its sister city for them, and they declined to play unless regularly
employed and guaranteed the payment of their salaries, an arrangement, by the way, which continued until
within a year past. On the evening of April 15, 1857, a company of gentlemen met, pursuant to notice, at
the Brooklyn Athenaeum to organize an association for the purpose of giving Brooklyn a series of musical
concerts similar to those so long enjoyed by the citizens of New York under the auspices of their
Philharmonic Society. A committee, composed of Luther B. Wyman, Robert R. Raymond, John Green-
wood, Edward Whitehouse, Carl Prox, Leopold Bierwith and Mr. Spies, was appointed to draft a plan of
organization and a constitution. On May 5 the committee reported, about one hundred persons being
present. Professor Raymond presented a constitution, which was adopted, and a committee appointed to
nominate a board of directors. The report having been accepted, the board in turn elected Mr. Luther B.
\Vyman president of the society with Edward Whitehouse, treasurer. The first e.xecutive committee was
composed of Messrs. Charles Congdon, P. K. Weitzel, George C. Ripley, W. M. Newell and Charles A.
Townsend. The first conductor was Theodore Eisfeldt. He was succeeded by Carl Bergmann, to whom
succeeded Theodore Thomas, who held the position until 1891, when the society turned over the entire
management to the Boston Symphony Society, under the leadership of Arthur Nikisch. During Mr.
Thomas' conductorship, a volunteer chorus of nearly five hundred voices was formed. Mr. Paul Tidden
had principal charge of this chorus, v/hich produced the oratorios of "Elijah," the "Creation," Bach's
" Cantata " and other important works, with the aid of the grand Philharmonic orchestra. Upon the
death of Mr. Wyman, Mr. Henry K. Sheldon was chosen president. George William Warren, then organ-
ist of Holy Trinity Church, and now of St. Thomas, New York, was for many years chairman of the music
committee, and upon his removal to New York Horatio C. King was chosen and held the office for about
ten years, when he retired from the board. Upon the chairman of that committee devolved the principal
details of the management. The history of the Philharmonic embraces an almost uninterrupted period of
success, the large income being devoted to the employment of the best vocal and instrumental talent
almost without regard to cost. The concerts were always attended by the most cultured audiences, and
for a generation were the principal musical feature of the city.
Organ Concerts may be said to have practically originated in Plymouth Church, in 1866, when the
church purchased what was then the largest and most improved church organ in this country, second only
in size to the imported organ in Boston Music Hall. The use of this magnificent instrument, built by
Hook of Boston, with its four organs and fifty-two speaking stops, was not to be confined to Sabbath
worship only. Henry Ward Beecher, with his usual liberal spirit, resolved that it should be made to serve
the public as an educator in the best organ music. One series of concerts was given in 1S67. In 1869
the project was resumed with brilliant success, and was continued for five years, during which were heard
the leading organists in Brooklyn, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Rochester, Montreal, Toronto and
other large cities. An interesting and instructive feature of the programme was a brief biography of each
gio THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
composer presented, or a description of the composition performed. Tiie e.xample thus set was imitated
all over the country, and the organ was popularized and enjoyed in a manner hitherto unknown in the
United States. Staid churches threw open their doors and the people had an opportunity to witness the
possibilities of this most magnificent of instruments ; among them the Tabernacle (Dr. Talmage's),
Trinity and Grace Episcopal churches in New York, and the edifices of other prominent religious corpora-
tions. Although the programmes were chiefly of organ music, variety was given by the introduction of
vocal and instrumental soloists, some of them already noted and who have since become famous upon the
lyric stage.
The Seidl Society was organized in 1889, its leading spirit being Mrs. Laura C. Holloway (now Mrs.
Langford), who secured the support of a large number of prominent ladies in carrying out a plan to have a
series of concerts in the Academy of Music by the orchestra under the leadership of Anton Seidl and to in-
crease the attendance at the summer concerts at Brighton Beach. Incidentally a fund was provided to en-
tertain poor children at a sea-side home at Coney Island, and facilities were afforded to working girls for
the enjoyment of the privileges of the society, including both music and recreation. The receptions by the
society, composed of ladies, have been most unique and interesting. Notable among the performances under
the auspices of the society was the production of portions of "Parsifal," by permission of Cosima Wagner.
There are other musical associations of note, and at the head of the list is The Amateur Opera
Association. This association has been in existence for about ten years, and, as its name implies, is com-
posed solely of amateurs ; but as its character is essentially dramatic the sketch of the association is placed
with those of the dramatic societies in the chapter on The Stage.
Besides these there are a large number of societies of a greater or less degree of prominence. The
Amphion Society, a chorus of mixed voices recruited chiefly from the eastern part of the city, has had a
career of special usefulness. Its officers for 1892 were : Henry A. Powell, president ; J . H. Darlington, vice-
president ; Eugene AV. Gombers, recording secretary; C. A. Eabry, financial secretary; W. H. Neidlinger,
musical director. The Apollo Club, a male chorus composed of amateurs, has had exceptional popu-
larity, and its subscription concerts have rivaled the Philharmonic in point of numbers and brilliancy. Its
officers are Carll H. De Silver, president ; Daniel Wescoat, secretary, and Dudley Buck, director of music.
The Brooklyn Choral Society, which was organized for the production of oratorios and other composi-
tions of the highest class, has a strong hold upon popular favor. Its presentation of the " Messiah " at the
Tabernacle in 1892 was a notable success.. Its chief managers are Henry E. Hutchinson, president ; William
H. Williams, vice-president ; Clement Lockitt, treasurer ; Dexter M. Swaney, secretary of the subscribing
members ; Frederick C. Buys, secretary of the active members, and C. M. Wiske, musical director. The
Brooklyn Cecilian, Mr. Albert S. Caswell, director, is a mixed chorus of about eight hundred young
voices, chiefly recruited from the public schools, and has performed a most excellent work in the training
of children at a nominal charge. It was organized in 1881. Mr. Caswell has the assistance of William B.
Goate., Charles S. Yerbury and Joseph A. Campbell.
The remaining societies are : The Arion Maennerchor — Peter Bertsch, president ; H. B. Scharmann,
honorary president ; Louis Zoellner, Gottfried G. Kaufmann, secretaries, ^^lolian — Benjamin R. Western,
president ; Henry F. Herkner, vice-president ; Otto A. Draudt, secretary. Brooklyn Maennerchor —
Fred Beyer, president; W. E. Blossfeld, secretary; Julius Bode, musical director. Membership, 75.
CiECELiA Ladies' Vocal Society — Mrs. Bernard Peters, president ; Mrs. Joseph F. Knapp, vice-president ;
Mrs. Alvah G. Brown, recording secretary ; Mrs. Wm. E. Kuster, financial secretary ; Mrs. John S. King,
corresponding secretary; Mrs. Geo. Essig, treasurer; W. H. Neidlinger, musical director. Cecilia —
William Schroeder, president ; Gustav Traubmann, secretary; Frank Joa, treasurer ; Ernest Sharpf, musical
director. Chester Glee Club — William H. Nichols, president ; Nathaniel B. Hoxie, Jr., vice-president ;
Wm. J. Clark, secretary; Abiel Wood, treasurer. Concordia Maennerchor — Henry Shirk, president ;
Hugo Meyer, vice-president; Wm. Essberger, recording secretary; Wm. Werneburg, corresponding secre-
tary; Chas. Noll, financial secretary. Concordia Quartette Club — Fritz Brink, president ; Chas. Mild-
ner, secretary ; Chas. Wonneberger, director. Concordia Quartette — Charles Stucker, president ; William
Dassau, vice-president ; Theodore Bock, secretary; A. Fehmel, financial secretary. Concordia Singing
Society — Bernard Diester, president ; F. Bock, secretary ; H. Nekeman, financial secretary ; F. Bischoff,
treasurer. Church Music Society — A new organization. Prof. Charles S. Morse, organist of Plymouth
Church, musical director. Deutscher Liederkranz — A. H. Tieman, president ; H. Friedlander, secre-
tary. Euterpe — Dudley R. Andrews, president; George Rawden, secretary; W. H. Hoschke, treasurer ;
C. Mortimer Wiske, musical director. Harmonia— Carl Becker, president ; Paul Fiebig, secretary. Hes-
sischer Saengerbund — Ditmas Lange, president ; Henry Berehl, conductor. Monday Night Chorus —
R. W. Bainbridge, president ; John R. Benner, Jr., secretary ; Arthur Claasen, musical director. Oratorien
Gesellschaft — Ernst Lasche, president ; Guenther Kiesewelter, director. Prospect Heights Choral
Society — Mrs, Frank Mulford, secretary ; F. Irving Crane, musical director. Saengerbund — George Rehn,
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
8ii
president; Ferdinand Roth and John Brune, vice-presidents ; Jacob Michaelis, corresponding secretary ;
C. H. Kohehaas, recording secretary; T. G. Rohrbery, treasurer. The Saengeruund Male Chorus is
the most prosperous German society, and is a pioneer in the musical contests with sister societies from
other cities. Schwabischer Saengerbund— Carl Eichman, president; E. F. Kunzelman, secretary;
August Bischoff, musical director. Social Quartette Club— Leopold Hartner, president;' John Geh-
ring, treasurer ; John Munz, financial secretary. United Singers of Brooklyn— Simon K. Saenger,
president; Charles T. Vorgang, vice-president ; Bernhard Klein, secretary ; EmilWildner, financial secre-
tary ; Samuel Wandelt, treasurer ; H. Friedlaender, librarian ; Gunther Kieswelter, musical director.
Williamsburgh Saengerbund— Charles Vorgang, president; Louis Berton, secretary. Zoellner Maen-
nerchor — A. W. Newman, president.
Robert Thallon is a musician who has won the praise of critics as a piano performer and instructor
of remarkable skill. He was born at Liverpool on March i8, 1852. The family moved to Brooklyn a year
or two after the birth of their son Robert, and he lived here until 1864. In that year he returned to Europe
and studied music, until 1875. While abroad he was a pupil at the great centres of education on the conti-
nent; at Leipsic he was taught the pianist's art by Wenzel, Coccius and Jadassohn; he became an accom-
plished organist under the instruction of Volckmar, of Homburg; he mastered the chief of all musical in-
struments under the tuition of such eminent violinists as David, Routgen and Hermann of Leipsic, Keller,
of Stuttgart, and Baur, of Paris; harmony and composition he pursued at Leipsic, Hamburg and in England,
under Jadassohn, Volckmar and Hatton ; and his voice was cultivated at Florence, Leipsic, Milan and New
York, by Vannuncini, Gloggner, Nava, Romani and Henschel. This varied education has been utilized by
Mr. Thallon principally as a means to broaden his work as a teacher of piano playing, that being the essence
of his life-work. He labors in his profession because he loves it and not because of the necessity that so
8i2 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
often becomes an excuse for imperfection. Witli his pupils his instruction is aimed to inspire the artistic
idea and musical sense rather tlian to impart sheer technique, preferring the practical to the mechanical
understanding. Those who possess to an unusual extent inherent taste, reproductive memory, and powers
of imagination, are given a thorough course of training in every branch of the art, and in each case Mr.
Thallon develops, as far as is possible, the individuality of his student. At most of the more important
musical events in Brooklyn he figures prominently, and is one of the best known musicians in the city.
In Dudley Buck the city of Brooklyn claims a musician whose reputation extends over his native
land and Europe. His ancestors were the Winthrops, Dudleys and Adamses, of New England. He was born
on March lo, 1839, in Hartford, and early manifested a taste for music. While a student at Trinity College
in his native city he was offered the post of organist at St, John's Episcopal Church and in that capacity
earned his first money as a musician. In 1S58 he was sent to Europe to acquire a complete musical educa-
tion. He studied at the Leipsic Conservatory in fellowship with Carl Rosa, Arthur Sullivan and others
who have since become eminent as musicians. Moritz Hauptmann taught him harmony and Ernst
Frederick Richter composition. He mastered the piano under the guidance of Moscheles and Plaidy,
while Julius Rietz, the associate and companion of Mendelssohn, instructed him in orchestration. At
Dresden he perfected himself in organ music under the direction of the famous Johann Gottlieb Schneider.
After spending three years in Germany Mr. Buck passed twelve months in Paris and returned to America
in December, 1S62. He accepted an organist's position in the North Congregational Church at Hartford
and was soon surrounded by a large class of pupils. His father died in 1867 and Dudley Buck bade good-
bye to Hartford in 1869. Prior to this he had acquired a national reputation through the series of organ
concerts which he gave throughout the country in 1864. On these occasions he performed many works of
his own composition and succeeded, as few others have ever done, in popularizing classical music. From
Hartford he moved to Chicago to undertake the direction of the choir of St. James' P. E. Church. After
the great fire of 1 87 1 he became organist at St. Paul's Church and at Music Hall, Boston. Here his work and
personality drew the attention of Theodore Thomas who, in his concerts, gave prominence to some of Mr.
Buck's compositions and, in 1875, offered their author an appointment as assistant conductor at the summer
concerts in Central Park Garden. Prior to entering upon his new duties Mr. Buck accompanied Mr.
Thomas to the Cincinnati Musical festival. His engagement with Mr. Thomas lasted for one summer,
when the concerts at Central Park Garden terminated and Mr. Buck was called upon to compose the music
for Sidney Lanier's cantata, "The Centennial Meditation of Columbia," wdiich was sung, under Thomas'
direction, at the opening of the Philadelphia exhibition in May, 1876. In 1878 Mr. Buck became organist
and choirmaster in Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, where he has since remained. To his efforts is due
the existence of the famous Apollo Club of Brooklyn, and many of his best known scores have been written
for its benefit. Mr. Buck's first published works were in the line of sacred music.
John Hyatt Brewer is one of the younger composers and organists, but he is one of the best
known. His success as the director of music and organist at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church
during the past thirteen years has given him an extended reputation. Mr. Brewer was born in Brooklyn on
January 18, 1856, of Scotch-English parentage. Until his fifteenth year he sang in boy choirs, and studied
music under Diller, Navarro, Caulfield and Whitely, becoming in 1877 a pupil of Dudley Buck on the organ
and in counterpoint and composition. He was a charter member of the Apollo Club, organized in 1877,
under the leadership of Dudley Buck, and has always been its accompanist. He is a member of the Music
Club of New York and the Manuscript Society, and is a director in the department of music in the Brooklyn
Institute.
As a musician C. Morti.mkr Wiskk has won a reputation which long has been more than local. During
his twenty years residence in this city he has been constantly active in the prosecution of his profession.
He has held positions as organist and choirmaster in the First Reformed Church, Hanson Place Baptist
Church, Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church and Christ Church, Eastern District ; and during the
whole period of his service in these several situations he has been absent from his post only one Sunday,
and then because of sickness. Probably no one else in the United States has displayed more activity in
organizing musical societies, both public and private ; in 1874 he was elected conductor of the Brooklyn
Choral Union, and remained at its head until it disbanded; in 1880 he established the Amphion Musical
Society, consisting of a male chorus and an amateur orchestra, and continued as its leader for eleven years.
He was the promoter and manager of the Amphion Academy Company, and he organized the Caecelia Ladies'
Vocal Society, which is still enjoying an active existence. Five years ago he was elected conductor of the
Brooklyn Choral, then a glee society with a chorus of seventy-five voices; he has so far improved its affairs
that Its chorus now numbers 400, and it is recognized as one of the best oratorio societies in America. Mr.
Wiske's activity as a musician has extended to other cities than this. In New York he founded the
Orpheus and Schubert clubs and the New York Chorus Society. The last of these organizations produced
two seasons since three important works, none of which had ever been heard in the United States before.
1
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
813
C. Mortimer Wiske.
From the active management of these societies Mr.
Wiske's Brooklyn engagements have compelled his
retirement. For the four years prior to May i, 1S.S5,
he was chorus master under Theodore Thomas, and
had charge of the choruses for the Wagner festivals
of 1884; he also aided in training the choruses for the
May festival at the 7th Regiment armory in 1SS2.
The Euterpe Society of this city is Mr. Wiske's latest
creation. It is an offshoot or reorganization of the
old Amphion Society, but is larger in scope than its
predecessor. It has a chorus of forty male voices and
an orchestra of eighty-five instruments. Mr. AViske
conducts societies at Westfield and Passaic, N. J., and
his services as a conductor are much \n demand in
other musical centres than New York city. C. Mor-
timer Wiske was born at Bennington, Vt., on January
12, 1853, but when he was si.\ months old his parents
removed to Troy, N. Y., where he received his early
education. His musical talent developed while quite
young, and when twelve years old he was appointed
an organist at Tibbett's Chapel, and four years later
he was engaged as organist and musical conductor
at the Church of the Ascension in Troy, where he
remained until his removal to New York city m 1S72.
The following season he made Brooklyn his perma-
nent home.
Pf.rlee V. Jervis has place in the van of pianoforte performers and mstrucLors in Brooklyn, and
musical culture in the city has derived from his teachings and e.xhibitions an impetus which has won him
distinction in the profession. Combined with native talent, that genius of hard work which is invariably a
conqueror, has been the secret of his success. He did not at first choose the calling for which nature had
fitted him, but devoted himself to work in a banking house until his artistic inclination asserted itself too
strongly to be resisted. Then he became a student of the piano with Dr. AVilliam Mason and Mrs. yVgnes
Morgan, of New York, as his instructors. He studied theory with Dudley Buck, Brooklyn's famed organist
and composer. For twelve years he has been a teacher, both in Brooklyn and New York, so excelling in his
method of imparting instruction that it became necessary for him to relinquish largely his work as a concert
pianist, in which he early acquired reputation. His playing is marked by accurate interpretation, sympa-
thetic touch and artistic refinement in the shading of tones. That which makes him excellent as a performer
renders him inspiring as a teacher ; the spirit of the natural musician and the technique of the student are
blended felicitously in all his work and he infuses in his pupils the earnest, the enthusiasm, and the ardor in
work which distinguishes him. His studios at 141 Montague street, Brooklyn, and Carnegie Music Hall,
New York, are the resort of leaders in the social world of both cities and the list of his pupils includes the
names of many of the most prominent families. He is a member of the Brooklyn Institute department of
music and was one of the organizers of that department. He is identified also m many other enterprises for
the advancement of musical culture. He is a contributor to the literature of music as a writer for T/ii:
Etude, of Philadelphia, and Musical Notes, of New York. Mr. Jervis was born in Brooklyn in 1858, and
traces his lineage to the planting in America of the Jervis family, early in colonial times, by the posterity of
that Gervaise who, crossing the English channel with William the Conqueror, eventually settled in Scotland
and was the progenitor of a family that has figured for hundreds of years in the records of the landed gentry
of England and Scotland. The parents of Mr. Jervis are H. C. S. and Mary Jervis and he is their eldest
son. He married Miss Helen Hutchinson, of Essex, Conn., in 1S90, and their home is at 141 Montague
street.
Frank H. Chandler. — For more than two decades the name of Chandler has been associated with
music and musical matters in Brooklyn, and Chandler's piano store has been the headquarters of the leading
choral and orchestral societies and the favorite resort of musically inclined Brooklynites. Mr. Chandler is
practical in his knowledge of the mechanism of instruments, having in early life served his full term of ap-
prenticeship and worked for several years thereafter on both church and parlor organs, and also on pianos,
thereby becoming familiar with every detail of their construction and gaining that knowledge which is
so essential to the accurate judgment of the merits of the article in which he deals. He was born at
West Randolph, Vt., on February 13, 1836, being one of a family of eight sons and five daughters. Both he
Su
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
and his younger brother, Albert B. Chandler, presi-
dent of the Postal Telegraph Company, are enthusi-
astic members of the Brooklyn Society of Vermonters.
In 1861 he enlisted for three years in the 4th Vermont
volunteers and served in the band attached to his
regiment for eleven months, at the end of which time
he was honorably discharged by an act of congress,
which abolished regimental bands. From that time
until 1865 he was in the national government service
at the Springfield, Mass., armory, and at the ordnance
agency in New York. He spent the two years imme-
diately succeeding the termination of the Civil war in
a manufacturing establishment in Barnesville, Ga. In
the spring of 1867 he came to Brooklyn and at once
interested himself in what has since become his life-
work, and in 1869 he began business independently.
During all this time he has represented the Chickering
& Sons' pianos and at present he has in addition the
Fischer, Ivers & Pond, Marshall & Wendell, and
many other cheaper instruments. He is recognized,
throughout his e.xtensive acquaintance, as a man of
excellent judgment, of the highest integrity, and as
wholly without prejudice as human nature can be.
To his wise counsel and unselfish example many
younger men are indebted, in part, for a useful and
FRANK H. CHANDLER. hoHorablc carcer. Mr. Chandler's home is at 177
South Oxford street, this city, where, with his wife and one son, Frank W. Chandler, now nineteen yeai'3
old, he has resided several years.
CONSERVATORIES OF MUSIC. j
Of local schools for musical instruction there are several of note. The oldest is the Groschel Conserva-
tory, founded by the late Prof. J. W. Groschel. It was formally opened in September, 1S64, and in a few
months enrolled over two hundred pupils. Professor
Groschel was assisted especially by his two talented
daughters, Sophie (afterwards Mrs. Chadick) and
Louise, both educated in Germany, together with a
corDS of efficient vocal and instrumental instructors.
Upon the retirement of Professor Groschel in 1876,
the two daughters continued in the management until
1890, when they transferred the institution to Max
Spicker, the present proprietor. His corps of assist-
ants embraces artists of the highest character and
distinguished in their several specialties.
Max Spicker was a musician born. Manifesting
in childhood marked aptitude and love for his art,
he resolved at an early age to make it his profession.
He gained a classical education at the High School
in Koenigsburg, Germany, in which city he was born
in 1858. His first musical instruction was received
from the famous musicians Louis Koehler and Robert
Schwalm, and in 1876 he entered the Royal Academy
of Music at Leipsic, and graduated with high honors
in 1878. At once identifying himself with musical
productions of the highest class, he conducted operas
in Heidelberg, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle and at the
Royal Opera Houses in Ghent, Belgium and Potsdam,
Germany. During this period he composed many
instrumental works for orchestra as well as choruses,
all of which received high commendation from the Louis Moi.lenhauer.
LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
815
critics. His part songs as well as vocal solos, published by E. F. Luckhardt, of Berlin, attained a wide
popularity. During his connection with the Beethoven Society his pen was continually active, and his
songs have been sung by such distinguished artists as Lili Lehmann, Etelka Gerster, Emily Winant, Antonia
Meilke, Ritter-Goetze, Theodore Reichmann, F. F. Powers and Andreas Dippel. His choral works have
been performed by our leading American and German singing societies, conspicuous among them being the
Apollo Club, of Brooklyn, the Arion, Liederkranz, Beethoven, Musurgia and Maennerchor, of New York, the
Orpheus, of Boston, the Liedertafel and Orpheus, of Buffalo, the Mendelssohn Glee Club, of Rochester, the
Germania Maennerchor, of Baltimore, the Arion, of Newark, and other associations, and were presented also
at the state musical festivals in Connecticut and New Orleans. The great orchestral concerts, given in the
winter at the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, and conducted by him, are prominent features of the musical
season, and the concerts by the students of his conservatory are the only entertainments of this character
in which the performers have the support of a full professional orchestra. Mr. Spicker is a brilliant pianist
and a thorough musician and scholar, and in his social and business relations deservedly esteemed and
popular.
The founder of the Mollenhauer Colleges of Music was the eminent 'cello soloist, Henry Mollenhauer.
Twenty-four years before his death in 1891, he established his school on Livingston street, near Court, and
there gave instruction, founded on scientific basis, to thousands of students, many of whom have achieved
prominence in the professional world. His mode of procedure was broadly eclectic, confining itself to no
particular author and pledged to no special school.
Louis Mollenhauer was born in Brooklyn on December 17, 1863. As soon as he was able to handle an
instrument, his father placed in his hands a miniature violin, and before he was six years old he was wont to
delight and astonish the family's friends by his natural aptitude and the phenomenal acuteness of his ear.
8i6
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
He early appeared in public and was greeted with the warmest enthusiasm, not only on account of his youth,
but as one in whom was manifest an inherent talent of great promise. At the age of fifteen he gave several
orchestral concerts, and he was also a member of the Schubert and Mollenhauer Quintet clubs, devoted to
the exposition of the best classical compositions for five parts. Although Mr. Mollenhauer is less than thirty
years old, he may be said to have worked hard as a student for twenty years, playing during that time
hundreds'of compositions, officiating as orchestral conductor, superintending and drilling the college classes,
achieving honors as a soloist, and otherwise fitting himself for the perpetuation of the college, which, since
the untimely death of his father, it has devolved upon him to manage and superintend. The success and
reputation achieved and enjoyed by the parent institution has rendered necessary the opening of a new
branch at 280 Lafayette avenue, where the instruction of the pupils is under the direct supervision of
Louis Mollenhauer. In regard to his personal characteristics Mr. Mollenhauer is studious rather than
conversational, but on his favorite theme he becomes enthusiastic and speaks with authority. He is very
charitable, having contributed much to deserving objects by his performance on their behalf. Li addi-
tion to Mr. Louis Mollenhauer, the eldest son of the founder of the college, there are Adolph, the 'cello
virtuoso, and the three sisters, the Misses Ida, Johanna and Celia, each of whom is a born as well as a
trained artist and a skillful teacher, and Master Henry, a boy of remarkable promise.
R. EsTAVA DE Stefani is the friend of musical
culture in Brooklyn, and his Grand Italian Conserva-
tory of Music, at 539, 541 and 543 Fulton street and '
452 Gold street, is one of the leading institutions of
the kind. The excellence of the instruction given,
the perfect system of the management and the com-
prehensive scope of the school all tend to the full
development of the talents and the most complete
unfolding of the genius possessed by those who be-
come pupils under Signor Stefani and his corps of
assistants. Signor Stefani has acquired European
fame as a vocalist. He was born on the Island of Cuba,
where his father was prominent as one of the civil
officials in the Eastern District. His parents were
Spanish, and he was sent to Barcelona, in Spain, to
study law, in which he won his degree. The Spanish
student's love for music was strongly marked in him
and was liberally gratified during his university course.
He appeared in a number of amateur performances
of opera in Barcelona, and his evident talent for the
operatic stage attracted the attention of the director
of the Government Conservatory of Music, by whose
advice he went to Italy and placed himself under the
direction of Professors Romani and Ronconi. Two
years after, in the cast of "Lucrezia Borgia," he made
his debut at Alba, Italy ; afterwards he sang at sixty-
two performances of classic opera during an engage-
ment of three months at the Grand Theatro Carlo
Felice, in Genoa, with such success that the king of Spain conferred upon him the royal cross of Charles
the Third. He has appeared with such artists as Durand, Gabbi, Tctrazzani, C!ampanini, Tamagno, Gayarre,
Massini, Aramburo and others of great reputation ; and he is himself a perfectly equipped artist. His
conservatory is planned on a noble scale and is especially adapted f<jr students who are looking toward a
career upon the lyric or operatic stage. The conservatory affords a thorough and complete education in
every department of music, and Signor Stefani's performances of grand Italian opera, with orchestra,
chorus, costumes and scenery, the performers being his advanced pupils, have been heartily endorsed by the
press of Brooklyn and New York as indicating one of the greatest successes in musical teaching.
Other music schools of prominence are A. Arnold's Conservatory of Music, of which August Arnold is
director ; Venth's College of Music, Carl Venth, proprietor ; and the Prospect Hill College of Music, under
the directorship of F'. H. Daniels.
R. EsTAVA DE Stefani.
Old Armory BuiLDiNn, Henry and Ckanderry Streets.
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
TLITARY service, voluntarily assumed b)- the private citizen in time of peace, is
recognized as one of the most honorable forms in which a man can discharge his
duty to the State. Whatever may have been true of the old-time " training days,"
' and even of the very early militia, there is no longer any suggestion of " playing
soldier" in the service of the National Guard of the State of New York. The
thoroughness of drill and discipline and the ready acquiescence in it by the private
soldier, who while in uniform regards himself no longer as a business man or pro-
fessional man ; the perfect organization and equipment and the high character and
local prominence of those who enter the ranks and fill the offices of the National
Guard, have placed the service on a high plane of efficiency and repute. In con-
stant readiness for duty — whether to quell local disturbances when they pass be-
yond the control of the police, or to spring to the defence of the country, as the
militia regiments did when the war of the rebellion began — the existence of a
thoroughly efficient National Guard gives to the community a sense of security for which other countries
depend on the presence of a large standing army. The occasional calls to duty, too, such as were made upon
the regiments of this and other states during the labor riots of 1877 and during the threatened invasion from
Canada in an earlier time, and the presence of unruly bodies of disturbers of the peace, give to the service a
practical character that invites into it many who are willing to give time to the preparations for possible
emergencies, but could not be tempted merely by pleasure or holiday glory. The National Guard in New
York state dates from the organizing act of 1786, in accordance with the provisions of an act in 1777, ordain-
ing that the militia should be armed and disciplined and in readiness for service, in peace as well as in war.
The first organization was in two divisions, with brigades of four regiments each. In 1S54 a reorganization
gjg THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
provided for eight divisions of two to four brigades eacli ; and under the stress of war times in 1862 it was
ordered that the full number of thirty-two brigades should be organized. By the consolidation act of 1882
the number of divisions was reduced to four, with two brigades each, and the organization of the Guard was
still further simplified in 1SS6, by reducing the state commands to four brigades only, all reporting directly
to the adjutant-general at Albany, who then became the only major-general in the service. The 2d Division,
in which, until 1SS6, were included all the Brooklyn commands, was established at the beginning of the
National Guard in the state. Its extent varied at different times, including different brigades according to
the distribution of the several commands. Major Aaron Ward, of Sing Sing, commanded the division until
1858, when he was succeeded in turn by General Harmanus B. Duryea, in 1858 ; General John B. Woodward,
in 1869; General Thomas S. Dakin, in 1875; General James Jourdan, in 1879; and General Edward L.
Molineu.x, in 1884. Until 1862 there was only one brigade actually organized in Brooklyn — the Fifth, which
became the Third in 1S82, when the Eleventh became the Fourth. This brigade was commanded succes-
sively by Generals H. B. Duryea, Philip S. Crooke, E. B. Fowler, Thomas S. Dakin, James Jourdan, C. T.
Christensen, and James McLeer. The 4th Brigade, organized as the Eleventh in i86r by General Jesse C.
Smith, was commanded by this officer until 1868, when he was followed by Generals J. V. Meserole, in 1868 ;
Ira L. Beebe, in 1876; Edward L. Molineux,in 1879 ; William H. Brownell, in 1881, and Rodney C. Ward, in
1885. In 1886, when the organization of the troops of the state in four divisions and eight brigades was
discontinued, and an organization in four brigades was substituted, the Brooklyn regiments were all embraced
in the 2d Brigade, of which General James McLeer was made commander. In the fall of 1892 the National
Guard of the state numbered 12,874 of all ranks, comprised in thirteen regiments, one battalion and forty-
six separate companies of infantry, five batteries of artillery, one troop of cavalry and three signal corps. By
the same census the numerical strength of the 2d Brigade was placed at 3,004. At the beginning of 1892 the
2d brigade comprised five regiments of infantry, an artillery battery, a signal corps and one separate com-
pany. During the year this muster was reduced by the retirement of one of the regiments, the Thirty-second,
the disbandment of w-hich occurred on May 26, 1892. It was an eight company infantry regiment which was
organized as a four company battalion on October 8, 1868. It was enlarged to seven companies on August
8, 1870, and the eighth company was added on February 24, 187 1. It was organized by Germans and for a
long time the preponderating element of the organization was of that nationality. Its successive com-
manders were : Colonels Henry Edward Roehr, John Rueger, Louis Bossert, Louis Finkelmeier and Henry
C. Clark. At the time when it was mustered out the armory of the regiment was at Stagg street and Bush-
wick avenue. Companies F and K of the Thirty-second became, respectively, companies E and H of the
13th Regiment. At the close of 1892 the 2d Brigade was composed as follows : 13th Regiment, ten com-
panies infantry, (new) armory on Sumner avenue, between Putnam and Jefferson avenues; 14th Regiment, ten
companies infantry, (new) armory on Eighth avenue, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth sts. ; 23d Regiment, ten
companies infantry, (new) armory on Bedford avenue, between Atlantic avenue and Pacific street ; 47th Regi-
ment, eight companies infantry, armory on Marcy avenue, between Heyward and Lynch streets ; 3d battery,
gatling guns and howitzers, armory at 759-765 Dean street; 17th Separate Company, infantry, armory at
170 Amity street, Flushing, Queens County. The brigade staff of General McLeer is composed of Lieu-
tenant-Colonel John B. Frothingham, assistant adjutant-general; Major W. H. A. Cochran, inspector;
Major Frank Lyman, engineer ; Major \\'illiam J. Gaynor, judge-advocate ; Major George R. F^owler, sur-
geon ; Major Francis D. Beard, ordnance officer; Major Peter H. McNulty, quartermaster ; Major Theodore
H. Babcock, inspector of rifle practice ; Captain Frederick T. Leigh, signal officer ; Captain Charles W.
Tracy, Jr., aide-de-camp ; Captain John H. Shults, Jr., aide-de-camp.
Brigadier-General J.^mes McLeer was a young student in the law office of the late General Philip S. Crooke
in 1S61 when the internecine war resulting from the secession of the southern states called the young men
of the nation to arms. He was one of the earliest volunteers from his native city of Brooklyn, and enlisted
as a private in Company C, 14th Regiment. When the first detachment of Union troops crossed the Poto-
mac and took possessi(jn of the grounds in the vicinity of the Arlington House, he was one of the number.
In the hard fighting which began on July 21 the regiment was conspicuous by its bravery and endurance,
and during one of the many charges General McLeer sustained serious wounds in the head and right arm,
which made necessary a sojourn of several weeks in a hospital. His wounds were not fully healed when he
insisted on rejoining his regiment, with which he participated in the arduous campaign of 1862 in Virginia.
On August 29, 1862, the regiment was engaged in the battle of Grovetown,and the young soldier was deliv-
ering a shot from his rifle when his left arm was shattered. Determined to fire once more he did so with
his right arm and then fell with a shattered right leg. He lay on the field all night and until the afternoon of
the next day, when he was removed ; he had done the best he could with his uninjured arm to staunch the
flow of blood from his wounds, but his injuries were so serious that amputation of the left arm was neces-
sary, and he would have lost his right leg had his physical condition permitted the operation. The limb
was saved by successful surgical treatment, but in so shattered a condition that its usefulness is retained by
THE NATIONAL GUARD. 819
the application of splints. In 1863 he was honorably discharged from the army with the rank of sergeant.
When the 14th Regiment was reorganized after the war, he was elected first lieutenant of his old company
and subsequently he was made quartermaster on the staff of Colonel Fowler. Rising successively through
the grades of major and lieutenant-colonel he was made colonel of the regiment in 1873, and held the com-
mand until 1885 when he was promoted to his present rank and placed in command of the 5th Brigade. From
the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic he has been active in its ranks, and he is a charter mem-
ber of Wadsworth Post, No. 2 — the first post organized in Kings County; he has held various offices in the
organization. In civil life General McLeer has been prominent many years. He was born in December,
1840, and, as already stated, intended to become a lawyer; in fact his admission to the bar was near at hand
when his war career began. In 1865 he was elected city auditor of Brooklyn on the Republican ticket. He
Brigadier-General James McLker.
was the nominee for street commissioner in 1869, but, although his election was conceded, he did not serve.
He was appointed pension agent for the district of Long Island in 1873, and held that office until it was
consolidated with the New York office. His next position was that of postmaster of Brooklyn, to which he
was appointed in December, 1877, and he served eight years from the first day of the next year. Since
1889 he has held the office of assessor.
THIRTEENTH REGIMENT.
The 13th Regiment dates its history nearly as far back as any command in the state, its first com-
pany having been organized in 1827 as the Brooklyn Light Guard. The regiment was organized on July 5,
1847, with Abel Smith as colonel, Edward Beers as lieutenant-colonel, and John H. Cans as major. The
companies were: Right-flank, company of light artillery, Brooklyn City Guard, Captain J. N. Olney ; Com-
pany A, Pearson Light Guard, Captain J. J. Dillon; Company B, Washington Horse Guard, Captain J. McLeer;
Company C, Brooklyn Light Guard, Captain Charles Morrison; Company D, Williamsburgh Light Artillery,
Captain Lewis ; Company E, Williamsburgh Light Artillery, Captain Hanford ; Company F, Oregon Guard,
Captain Walsh ; Company G, Washington Guards, and Company H, Jefferson Guard, Captain Willys. The
companies at this time had different uniforms, one at least wearing the dress of the old Continentals. The
City Guard (Captain R. V. W. Thome, now deceased) wore red coats, and the Brooklyn Light Guard wore white
coats. The Continentals were commanded by Captain Burnett, father-in-law of General Jourdan. After a
few years' trial it was found that the elements could not be made homogeneous, and the German companies
from' Williamsburgh were detached and formed the nucleus of the 28th Regiment. About the year 1858 the
gray uniform was adopted, and the regiment made its first parade in the new dress at the celebration of the
820
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
introduction of water into Brool^lyn on April 27, 1859. Some of the companies whicli refused to adopt the
gra)' withdrew from the regiment. Li i<S6o Compan}' 1! was consolidated with Company C and Company A
of the 14th Regiment, commantled l)y Captain Horace A. Sprague, was transferred and became Company B
of the ijth Regiment. The command then comjirised eight companies. During all this period the organi-
zation occupicti the armory at the corner of Henry and Cranberry streets, subsequently used by the Gatlino-
Batter}', and now given over to commercial purposes. Immediately upon the call of President Lincoln for
seventy-five thousand men the Thirteenth unanimousl}' tendeied its services, and on April 23, 1861, the
regiment, eight hundred strong, started for the seat of war. In anticipation of serious disturbance in Balti-
more at the approaching election, the Thirteenth was orderetl to that city to assist in maintaining order.
During its absence a home guard ol Company G had been formed, which subsequently became the nucleus of
■^
Tim; I i,i.:xiii rk.;imkxt .Memory (Present', Flathusii .\vexue .\ni, IIaxshx 1'lace.
the 23d Regiment. On the return of the Th,rteenth in the latter part of Julv this guard turned out to receive
It. Many ot the Thirteenth's officers and men then and later entered the volunteer service Upon the
retirement of Colonel Smith, Lieutenant-Colonel R. ]!. Clark was elected colonel, with John B Woodward
lieutenant-colonel, and S. K. Boyd major; and on May 2, 1062, the regiment again responded to the call
ot the government. E.xcept the Eleventh no other New York militia
-p, . , ,, T ■ , ''^ regiment went so far south as the
I hirteenth. It lormed a part of the extreme left wing of McClellan's armv, and rentlered very effeetivf
vice. On the expn-ation of the term of service, on August 31, the men returned he
ry eiieetive ser
,,,,,,,.,. .. „ , lome. Again in June,
1863, and for the third time, the regiment was called into active service and was hurried to the front Col-
onel John B. Woodward was in command, with W. A. McKee as lieutenant-colonel. The overwhelming
defeat of the Confederates at Gettysburg rendered the services of the militia no longer indispensable and
in consequence of the draft nots m New \-ork in July, 1863, the Thirteenth was ordered home Durin'. the
month ot August ,t did guard duty m the city while the draft proceeded. In 1S66 Colonel Woodward
resigned, and was succeeded by Colonel James Jourdan. He, in turn, was succeeded by Colonel Thomas S
Dakin ,n 1869, and upon the latter's election as brigadier-general Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick A Mason
was chosen colonel. In 1870 Philip H. Briggs was lieutenant-colonel, and Edward S. Daniell mai<,r The
drum corps association was organized in 1869. On October 21, 1875, the regiment was first mustered and
mspec ed in its new armory, at Hanson place and Flatbush avenue. Lieutenant-Colonel Brigo-s was elected
colonel ,n January 1876, vice General Jourdan, commander-elect of the 5th Brigade. Captain Harry H
Beadle was elected lieutenant-colonel, and William R. Syme, for some time adjutant, was made major The
service of the regiment since the war has included duty during the Orange riots of 1871 and the great
railroad strike of ,877, when the prompt action of Govern<ir Robin.son in calling out the troops undoubtedly
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
preserved the state from the devastation which befell Pennsylvania and Maryland in that year. Colonel
Austen took command on July 13, 1877. In July, 1879, brevet Brigadier-Creneral C. T. Christensen was
elected major, vice King, appointed judge-advocate on the staff of General E. E. Molineux, nth Brigade,
and subsequently lieutenant-colonel, vice Beadle, honorably discharged. Captain J. Frank Dillont (Com-
pany F) was chosen major, and subsequently lieutenant-colonel. He resigned in the spring of 1881. In the
spring of 1888 a parade of the regiment took place in honor of the official induction of the Rev. T. De
Witt Talmage as chaplain of the regiment. Previous to this, in 1885, the regiment had formed the guard
of honor at the funeral of the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, its chaplain. The regiment also formed part of
the guard of honor at the funeral of General U. S. Grant in August, 1886. Company K is the most recent
addition to the Thirteenth. It was organized in 1888 as the " Talmage Company," in honor of the chaplain
of the regiment, the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage. It was mustered into service to replace the original Com-
pany K, that disbanded some time ago. Captain Charles H. Luscomb commands it. Colonel David E. Aus-
ten, the present regimental commandant, was commissioned on July 13, 1877. In 1884 he was succeeded by
General A. C. Barnes, who in turn was followed by Colonel Edward Fackner in 1SS7. A year later Colonel
Fackner resigned, and Colonel Austen was again elected to the colonelcy of the regiment.
The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was appointed chaplain in iSIarch, 1878. Among Mr. Beecher's pre-
decessors were the Rev. Edward Taylor, the Rev. J. Halstead Carroll and the Rev. Henry M. Storrs. In
June, 1878, was begun in the lecture-room of Plymouth Church the recruiting for Company G, commonly
known as the " Beecher Company," and Captain William L. Watson, a veteran of the war of the rebellion,
was elected captain in July. An important acciuisition was made also in the selection of the veteran
Harvey B. Dodworth, in September of the same year, as bandmaster, a position in which he was succeeded
by Fred. N. Innes. The veteran association of the 13th Regiment was organized on September 29, 1874.
At a meeting held on November 5, 1874, a constitution was adopted, and General Heath was elected presi-
dent, and Captain S. H. Wing, secretary. The first annual meeting of the association was held in the city
armory on April 23, 1875, and a regular regimental formation was adopted with the following officers : Col-
onel, Henry Heath; lieutenant-colonel, John B. Woodward; major, Adam T. ]3odge; adjutant, A. I-I.Wing;
quartermaster, J- S. Van Cleef ; commissary, William R. Syme ; eight captains and ei,L;ht lieutenants were
elected at the same meeting. The veteran association has taken an active interest in all matters con-
nected with the regiment. The officers of the association in 1892 were: Theodore II. Gates, president ; F.
A. Baldwin, secretary ; C. W. Tandy, treasurer ; John P. Scrvmser, commissai^y. The field and staff of the
13th Regiment are : David E. Austen, colonel; William L. A\'atson, lieutenant-colonel; George G. Cochran,
major; William F. Penney, adjutant; Charles Werner, quartermaster; Jerry A. Wernberg, commissary
of subsistence; John A. Cochran, surgeon; Arthur R.
Jarrett, assistant surgeon; Rev. T. De Witt Talmage,
chaplain; T. H. Babcock, inspector of ride practice.
The military experience of Colonel David E. Aus-
ten began two years before the beginning of the Civil
war. He enlisted in Company H, 7th Regiment, in
February, 1859, and went south when the regiment
was ordered to guard the capital of the nation. Hav-
ing been elected to a first lieutenantcy, he joined the
47th Regiment in November, 1862, and then became
attached to Company I. In August of the succeeding
year he was promoted to the rank of adjutant. He
was elected captain of Company I in March, 1S64;
major of the regiment in October, 1865; lieutenant-
colonel in January, 1868, and colonel in 1869. Wliile
holding this rank he was called to the command "f the
Thirteenth and received his commission on July 13,
1877. Seven years later he was succeeded by Colonel
A. C. Barnes, who gave place, in 1887, to Colonel Ivd-
ward Fackner. The latter resigned within a year and
Colonel Austen was called upon to resume his old
duties. David E. Austen was born in New York city
on February 6, 1841. His mother died while he was
an infant and he was brought up under the care of
his father's parents. His grandfather, David Austen,
was the prime factor in the uptown religious move-
ment among the Episcopalians on Manhattan Island,
Colonel D.-wiit h;. Austen.
822
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
^
r
which resulted in the erection of Grace Church at the corner of Tenth street and Broadway. He and Peter
Schermerhorn were the first wardens of the new parish. Colonel Austen was educated in the Swinburne
Collegiate Institute at White Plains. At the age of twenty he accepted the offices of superintendent and
chemist of the New York Kerosene Oil Company. He afterward became president of the Brooklyn Oil
Refining Company. His first political office was held in the New York custom house. Having studied
law in the intervals allowed by his business, he was admitted to the bar after being graduated with the
highest honors from the law school of New York University. His professional career was interrupted by
his appointment to the deputy auditorship of the finance department of New York city, and within two
years he was made one of the two auditors in charge of that division of the municipal government. His
faith in the doctrines of republicanism was first shaken when Horace Greeley entered the presidential arena
in 1S72. He sympathized at that time with the coalescing factions which had united in the candidacy of
the great editor and since then he has remained a Democrat without being in any sense a partisan. In the
days of Hubert O. Thompson's ascendancy Colonel Austen was one of the delegates to the general com-
mittee of the New York county democracy.
William LeRoy AVatson, lieutenant-colonel of the 13th Regiment, is a veteran of the Union army,
who, since the close of the Civil war, has given long continued and brilliant service to the state as a member
of the National Guard. His military history began
with his enlistment in the summer of 1862, when he
was eighteen years old, as a private in the 2d Wis-
consin Volunteers. He was at that time a student at
the Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., to which
institution he went in 1859 from Albany, N. Y., his
native place. After participating in the engagements
at Perryville, or Chapin Hill, Ky., Stone River and
Hoorus Gap, and in the Tallahoma campaign, he was
taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga and sent
to the Libby Prison. He escaped by way of the cele-
brated tunnel, but was recaptured, and after being held
at Libby Prison some time longer was transferred to
Columbia, S. C, from which place he finally escaped
and, rejoining his regiment, served with it until the
war ended, when he was honorably mustered out with
the rank of captain. After the war he enlisted in Com-
pany E, yth Regiment, in which command he served
the full term of seven years. His ne.xt military ex-
perience was his connection with the 13th Regiment.
When Company G, of that regiment, the " Beecher
Company," was recruited in the summer of 1878, the
command was tendered Captain Watson and he ac-
cepted the commission on August 16, 1878. When Mr.
Beecher died the company was selected as the guard of
honor for the body while it lay in state in Plymouth
'^ Church. In appreciation of its services the company
received from Mr. Beecher's family the sword and belt
worn by the famous clergyman as chaplain of the regiment, and it hangs in a handsome case upon the
walls of the company room. Captain Watson retained command of the company until he was elected
lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. The family of which Mr. Watson is a member originated in America
with John Watson, who was a land surveyor in Hartford, Conn., in 1644, having come from England as a
member of the colony at Plymouth, Mass. William LeRoy Watson was born at Albany, N. Y., on March 8,
1844, and attended the public schools there until he went to Wisconsin in 1859. He has been engaged
many years in the business of a commission merchant and is a member of the New York Produce Exchange.
He is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion and of U. S. Grant Post, G. A. R.
Major George G. Cochran was born in Brooklyn on November 3, 1863. He was educated at the
Juvenile High School and the Polytechnic Institute, and afterward studied medicine at Columbia College.
At the outset of his career he held the position of assistant surgeon at Chambers Street Hospital and Mount
Sinai Hospital, New York city. He is an inspector of the Brooklyn board of health. In 1880 he assisted
Colonel David E. Austen in organizing the cadet corps of the 13th Regiment and in 1881 he was appointed
captain of the cadets. He was obliged to resign his commission when he entered Columbia College, but
while traveling in Europe, in 1S86, he was elected to the second lieutenantcy of Company I, 13th Regiment.
LlEUTENAMT-COLONEL WiLLIAM L. WATSON.
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
823
On May 6, 1887, he was advanced a step and on January 16, 1888, he was elected captain. Since 1889 he has
been a member of both the regimental and brigade examining boards, and since 1890 has held the presi-
dency of the latter. In 1890 he was assistant instructor of guard duty at the state camp. From the date
of his enlistment in the cadet corps, and for the whole period of his service with the National Guard, he
held the annual 100 per cent, medals, and is also the possessor of the state marksman's and armory sharp-
shooters' badges. He was largely engaged in the introduction among second brigade organizations of
the method of signaling with flags, torches and electric lights, and he was mainly instrumental in estab-
lishing a bicycle corps in connection with his immediate command. In 1892 he was elected major of the
13th Regiment. He married Miss Edith Austen, daughter of Colonel David E, Austen.
John F. Carroll was elected second lieutenant of Company F, 32d Regiment, on December 17, 1891.
When that organization was disbanded he was transferred with his original rank to Company E, 13th
Regiment. He was born in Brooklyn on August 31, 1862. When he was four years old his father died and
he made his home with an uncle at College Point. He was educated at the Feurst Military College at that
place, and at Fairchild's Academy, in the town of Flushing. He entered the publication office of A. S.
Barnes & Co., thoroughly mastered the printing and bookbinding trades, and eventually became foreman
and assistant superintendent of the binding department. In 1885 he was prominent in the organization of
the Johnson Literary Society, of which he was five times elected president. He was also one of the organi-
zers of the St. James Outing Club, and as its first captain held office two years.
James McNevin, ordnance sergeant of the 13th Regiment, and superintendent of the armory, is the
wearer of many trophies of marksmanship, and he holds the championship of the regiment for the highest
score at all ranges. He was a member of the team matched against Sir Henry Halford's team of British
volunteers at Creedmoor in 18S2, and was the military long range champion of the United States in 1889.
His time is given wholly to his regimental duties. He was born in London, England, in 1847.
FOURTEENTH REGIMENT.
The 14th Regiment, the oldest of 2d Brigade organizations and the only one that served through the
war for the LTnion, has a history of which any command might well be proud. From 1S46, the date of its
Fourteenth Regiment Armory (Present;, North Poktla.nd .\vi.nli:,
formation, until the beginning of the Civil war, the career of the regiment was uneventful. On April 18,
1861, report was made to headquarters that the command was ready for service, and on May 18 eight line
companies and an engineer corps — 825 officers and men, under the command of Col. Alfred M. Wood —
started for Washington. On May 23, a day which is always celebrated by the command, General Irwin
824
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
McDowell mustered the regiment into the service of the LTnited States as the 84th N. Y. Volunteers. Early
in July the regiment crossed into Virginia and encamped near Arlington House. Two companies were here
added to the organization, which, 960 strong, was assigned to General Andrew Porter's brigade. The cam-
paign of the " Red Legged Devils " began on July 16, with a march to Armandale, continued the next day to
a point north of Centreville, where a stop was made until the 21st. Long before dawn of that day the
troops moved out of camp. In the battle of Lull Run, to which this movement was preliminary, the regi-
ment was engaged four hours and a half. It recaptured the guns of Rickett's battery, but was unable to
hold them for lack of reinforcements; such was its conduct generally that special mention of the regiment
was made in general orders. After the battle the F(.)urtcenth returned to the old camp at Arlington, and
stayed there until September 28, when it participated in the advance upon Munson's and Hall's Hills. Winter
quarters were established on Upton's Hill, where the command remained until the spring of 1862. From
that time until the regiment was mustered out of service it was engaged in twenty-one battles. Li the three
days' fight at Gettysburg the loss was fully fifty per cent, of the number engaged: iS killed, no wounded
and 90 missing. There was no hardship of war that the gallant soldiers of the Fourteenth did not endure.
On May 22, 1864, came the order for its return home. Cattle cars were furnished by the quartermas-
ter's department, and on the afternoon of the 24th the regiment was on its way to Brooklyn. At Elizabeth-
town they were met by a committee of Brooklyn citizens, while at Jersey City the common council reception
committee, the 13th Regiment and the 14th Regiment veteran association, were on hand to receive them.
The demonstration with which tlie T'liurteenth was welcomed by the thousands of people who lined the
streets of Brooklyn was one never to be forgotten. 'I'he 14th Regiment, originally known as the Brooklyn
Chasseurs, was made uj") of separate companies variously uniformed ; it was not until 1861 that the red
Zouave dress was adopted. I'hilip G. Crooke, of I^'latbush, was the first colonel ; he was succeeded in 1852
by Jesse C. Smith, Viho gave way to Alfred JNL 'Wood ; E. B. Prowler -was made colonel on October 24, 1S62 ;
James McLeer took command in 1S73, and Harry W. Michell, the present commandant, in 1885. Colonels
Crooke, Smith, Fowler and IMcLeer became generals. The field and staff officers are : colonel, Harry \V.
]\Iichell ; lieutenant-djlonel, Selden C. Clobridge ; major, Benjamin S. Steen ; commissary of subsistence,
'W. H. Fitzgerald; all of whom served through the war; adjutant, A. L. Kline; surgeon, Frank L. R. Teta-
more; assistant surgeon, L. J. Cartloua ; chaplain, J. Oramel Peck ; inspector of rifle practice, John J. Dixon.
Colonel H.\i;i;\' \\'. ^NIicHi.i.i, has been the commanding officer of the 14th Regim.ent since November
30, 1S85, He enlisted ni the regiment when the days of holiday soldiering had given place to the sterner
period of at'tual warfare, the date of his enrollment being that upon which the regiment gave notice of its
readiness to go to the front. Fie was a member of Company C, and was so good a soldier that on August
I, 1S61, he was made a corporal, and three months
later was promoted to the rank of sergeant. On Feb-
ruary II, 1S63, he was commissioned second lieuten-
ant. In the battle of Gettysburg he was wounded in
the breast, but continueil in the discharge of his duties,
and was rewarded on July 27 by the placing of a first
lieutenant's bar upon his shoulder straps. In the bat-
tle of the Wilderness he was acting as assistant adju-
tant-general of the 2d Brigade of the 5th Corps, and
while attending to his duties on May 5 was taken
prisoner. He was a prisoner eleven months in all,
and vi-as finally exchanged just before the war ended.
The record of his rise to the command of the 14th
Regiment can be given briefly in the dates of his com-
mit. -ions, as follows : captain. May 25, 1865 ; major,
March 25, 1875 ; lieutenant-colonel, October 29, 1883,
and colonel, November 30, 1885. In every position to
which he has been called in the regiment he has been
v.n indefatigable worker, and he has sometimes been
spoken of as "the pride of the Fighting Fourteenth."
for the i)ast twenty years he has been connected with
the tax office of Brooklyn. He is a member of the
(band Army of the Republic and of the Knights of St.
John and Malta. New York city is his native place,
and he was born on March 23, 1837. After preparing
for college at a school in Schoharie, N. Y,, he studied
at Hamilton College.
C'-iLoNM. Hai;kv \V. iric
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
82s
LlEUlENANT-COLOnEL SELDEN C. CLOBRIDGE,
The military record of Lieutenant-Colonel Sel-
DEN C. Clobridge is that of a gallant soldier whose
duty was performed well and faithfully in the face of
every danger, and whose scars are testimonials of his
personal bravery. He enlisted in the 115th Regiment,
N. Y. Volunteers, on August 8, 1862, as corporal, and
in the following January was made sergeant. He
was wounded in the leg at Olustee, Fla., his shoulder
was injured at Deep Bottom, Va., and his right arm
was lost in the assault upon Fort Gilmer. Corrrmis-
sioned lieutenant on April 29, 1865, he was honorably
discharged from the service with the brevet rank of
major in the New York State Volunteers. He was
appointed adjutant of the 14th Regiment on May i,
1878, and on October 9, 1883, he received his commis-
sion as major. He was promoted to the rank he now
holds on November 30, 1885. His energy in overcom-
ing the physical inconvenience caused by the loss of
his arm has been remarkable. By practice he became
one of the most accomplished left hand penmen in
the United States and won the prize for this class of
handwriting which was offered by the editor of a mili-
tary publication. The intrinsic value of the premium
was heightened by the fact that it was awarded through
Admiral Farragut, whose name was affixed to the let-
ter of presentation, though at the time the admiral
was cruising in Russian waters. He was represented, however, by General U. S. Grant, whose signature
ornaments the left hand corner of the epistle, and Lieutenant-Colonel Clobridge thus became the possessor
of a document to which is appended the autographs of the greatest sailor and the greatest soldier that
the Civil war produced. He was born on January 15, 1846, at Turin, Lewis County, N. Y. His early life
was spent attending to the duties of his father's farm and obtaining such education as the country schools
and an academy at Fort Edward afforded. Before coming to New York he spent three years at Albany as
a clerk in the office of Governor Reuben E. Fenton,
and while so employed he drafted the original bill
creating Prospect Park. For eleven years he served
as an employee at the custom house. At this writing
he holds a position of responsibility in the office of
the Brooklyn tax collector. He married Eva Beardslay
Small, daughter of Darius Small, a farmer near Little
Falls, N. Y.
Major Benjamin S. Steen carries an empty sleeve
as a memento of the services he rendered his country
at the time of the Civil war. He enlisted in the 14th
Regiment on October 15, 1858, and went south with
his comrades when they left Brooklyn for the seat of
war. He then held the rank of corporal. He was
promoted to the rank of sergeant in August following,
and served with distinction on many stubbornly con-
tested fields. In the bloody fight at Groveton, on
August 29, 1862, he lost his arm, and in the succeed-
ing December he was honorably discharged from the
service. Soon afterwards he was given a commission
in the 158th New York Volunteers, but his wound in-
capacitated him. He was elected to a second lieuten-
antcy in his old regiment on May 27, 1865, and was
promoted to the grade of first lieutenant on Novem-
ber 2, 1867. He received his captain's commission on
November 22, 1872, and was given his major's rank
Major Benjamin s. Steen. on May 20, 1889. He was born at Flushing, L. I., on
826
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Lieutenant A. L. Kline, Adjutant.
June 4, 1840, and spent ten years of his life in the
employ of the Brooklyn Eagle. He was foreman of
the pressroom when he went out with the volunteers.
For twenty years he has been employed as a customs
inspector.
A. L. Kline, adjutant of the 14th Regiment, is
to-day the senior adjutant in the National Guard of
New York State. He enlisted in the "Fighting Four-
teenth," on May 24, 1S76. He began his military career
as a private and every promotion has been a well de-
served tribute to his merit as a soldier. He was made
a corporal on September 13, 1878, and quartermaster-
sergeant on December i, 1881. He ceased to be a
non-commissioned officer on January 23, 1882, when
he became a second lieutenant; more than three years
afterwards, on March 16, 1S85, he was advanced to the
rank of first lieutenant. He was appointed adjutant
on January 25, 1892. He was born at Newton, Sussex
County, N. J., on F'ebruary 21, 1857. After obtaining
an education at public and private schools, he came to
live in Brooklyn in 1872. He engaged with W. C. Peet
& Co., neckwear manufacturers, and remained with
them until the firm dissolved in 1886. While there he
received a thorough education in the business and was
in charge of the selling and shipping departments.
He and his brother, B. C. Kline, opened their present
wholesale furnishing business, at 529 Broadway, in June, 1890. He is a member of Fort Greene Council,
Royal Arcanum, and of the Genesta Bowling Club. He was a member of the Grant Monument Association.
The quartermaster of the 14th Regiment, Frederick E. Shipman, enlisted in the National Guard on
July 2, 1884, as a private in Co. F, 47th Regiment. He was made quartermaster-sergeant on July 30, 1884,
and was honorably discharged in April, 1891. He reentered the service in less than a year and was
appointed to his present rank on January 25, 1892. He is engaged in the plate glass insurance business and
is now superintendent of that department of The
Fidelity and Casualty Insurance Company. He was
born in Brooklyn on January 30, i860, and is the son
of E. D. Shipman, a manufacturer of agricultural im-
plements. His grandfather was a colonel in the Con-
necticut state militia. He was educated at the public
schools in the Eastern District, which he attended
until his seventeenth year. He is a member of the
masonic fraternity. He married Catherine McCort,
daughter of Peter McCort, of Ohio.
Frank L. R. Tetamore, M. D., began his connec-
tion with the National Guard as a hospital steward in
April, 1S79, when he joined the T4th Regiment. He
was made assistant surgeon on June 2, 1886, and sur-
geon on June 2, 1892. He studied under Dr. George
R. Fowler, surgeon of the 2d Brigade, and was gradu-
ated from the Long Island College Hospital with the
class of 1882. He at once began to practice surgery
and acquired prominence as a specialist in those deli-
cate operations which relate to the restoration of the
face by transplanting tissue. He successfully demon-
strated that the bones of animals could not be utilized
in restoring injured portions of the face, but by the
transplanting of tissue he succeeded in constructing an
artificial face for a lady from Scranton, Pa., who was
fearfully disfigured in a railway accident on the Read-
ing road. He is medical examiner for the Knights lieutenant fkeueriok e. shipman, quartermaster.
THE NATIONAL GUARD
827
of St. John and Malta and for the Fraternal Mystic Circle ; is a member of the Chapter General of
America, the highest division of the Knights of Malta. He was born at Hudson, Columbia County, N. Y.,
on August 28, 185 1, and during his boyhood was employed as a druggist's assistant.
John H. Foote, who has been sergeant-major of the regiment since December 14, 1891, enlisted on
February 11, 18S5, as a private in Company B. On February 16, 1888, he was made quartermaster-sergeant,
and on February i, the next year, he was made first sergeant, which rank he held nearly three years.
He is a native of Brooklyn and was born on July 10, 1866. He was educated at the public schools and
is engaged in the jewelry business.
Frederick H. Stevenson, the regimental quartermaster-sergeant, was born in New York on January
28, 1864. He was educated at the Brooklyn Business College When fourteen years old he entered the
employ of his father, George Stevenson, a wholesale cigar manufacturer. He is now a salesman for another
firm. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum and the Order of Foresters. His military record began on
December 13, 1883, when he entered the regiment as a private in Company A. On July 17, 1884, he was
warranted corporal ; on October 15, 1886, second sergeant; and on July 5, 1S88, first sergeant. He was
made quartermaster-sergeant on January 11, 1892. His record of attendance is 100 per cent.
Color Bearer William J. Le Pine enlisted in the 14th Regiment in April, 1865. He had served in the
navy under the command of Commodore Chauncey and for a time, during 1857, was employed on the steam
frigate "Niagara." In August, 1861, he enlisted in the 2d N. Y. Volunteer Cavalry, and after two years of
meritorious service he was honorably discharged because of illness. For si.x months after joining the 14th
Regiment he served as a private in Company C. He was promoted to the rank of corporal at the end of
that time and twelve months later he was made a sergeant. He was color bearer during the ten years end-
ing in 1882, and was reappointed to that position in March, 1892. He was born in London, England, on
April 25, 1833, and first saw the shores of America when he was eight years old. He has earned some dis-
tinction in local Republican politics, and during 1881 and 1882 he represented the thirteenth ward in the
board of aldermen. For ten years he served as constable and deputy sheriff.
Captain Hassell Nutt, of Company D, enlisted as a private in Company I on April 2, 1873, and on
June 17, 1874, he became second lieutenant. He was promoted to the next higher grade in July, 1876,
was appointed adjutant on May i, 1885, and commissary of subsistence on October 13, 1886. A year later
he was elected to the command of Company D. He is in the employ of the post office department. He
was born in England, at the seaport of Hull, on January 17, 1853, and in his boyhood came to the United
States, where he was educated at public and private schools. He is a member of the Twenty-third Ward
Republican Association, the Letter Carriers' Mutual Benefit Association, the National Provident Union,
the Order of Tonti and the masonic fraternity.
William L. Garcia, first lieutenant of Company - ^-^-..™j,,,.,--,;^^,-- ., — _^™. ,--
D, joined the regiment on May 14, 18S6, when he
enlisted as a private in Company E. His interest in
his military duties has been active from the first and
he has risen from grade to grade with considerable
rapidity. He was made corporal on May 4, 1888 ; ser-
geant on November 9, 1888; first sergeant on Feb-
ruary 17, 1890; and commissary-sergeant on January
II, 1892. In February, 1893, he was elected to his
present rank and commissioned. Born in New York
city on October 28, 1866, he was educated at the pub-
lic schools there and at the high school.
Captain Edmund H. Mitchell, of Company E,
enlisted in the volunteer service not long after the
beginning of the Civil war. He joined the 51st Regi-
ment, N. Y. Volunteers, which was commonly known
as the Shepherd Rifles, and saw a great deal of active
service, participating in most of the earlier operations
under McClellan. He was twice wounded at Antie-
tam, once in the hand and once in the head. This
incapacitated him for a time and he returned home.
Shortly after the reorganization of the 37th Infantry
as a part of the State National Guard he became a
member of Company B and continued with it until it
was disbanded. In 1869 he joined the 14th Regiment,
enlisting as a private in Company A, but left the 14th captain edmunu h. Mitchell.
g^g THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
shortly afterwards on being elected captain of Company A, 84th Regiment, N. G., S. N. Y. He returned
to the 14th in 1870 and was transferred by Colonel Debevoise to the command of Company E, which he
reori^anized. On January 30, 1879, he retired, but was again elected captain of his old company on Decem-
ber 31, 1891. He was born in Brooklyn on January ig, 1846, and was educated at the public schools, the
Free Academy of New York and Manhattan College. He married Miss Louise Marie Maziere, of Mezieres,
France, whose family was represented by several of its members in the French military service and in the
Belgian army.
The commanding officer of Company G, Captain John L. J. Hagcstrom, enlisted as a private on Sep-
tember I, 1861. He was made quartermaster-sergeant on October 8, 1883, and became left general guide
on April'4, 1884. Two years later, on November 29, he was made commissary-sergeant and was elected
second lieutenant of Company G on February 26, 1890. His captain's commission was dated March 26,
1891. He was born in Sweden on March g, 1859, and came to the United States in 1880, after having first
undergone a collegiate training in his native land. He has been engaged twelve years as a photographer.
Richard H. Harding, Jr., captain of Company B, enlisted in the ranks of the National Guard on
October 17, 1884. He joined Company I, 47th Regiment, as a private; on June 17, 1889, he was elected
second lieutenant of Company C, 14th Regiment, and on November 4 of the same year he received his
commission as first lieutenant. On March 25, 1892, he received his present command. He was born at
Spring Valley, N. Y., on April 4, 1865, and was graduated from the Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn.
Sergeant James T. Ashley enlisted in Company H in 1884, and was made a corporal two years later.
Soon aft^er his appointment as sergeant, in June, 1891, he was, through the consolidation of two companies,
transferred to Company I, and his appointment was continued with the original date. He was born at
Speedsville, Tompkins County, N. Y., on September 29, 1866, and came to Brooklyn at the age of five, where
he attended the public schools. After filling several clerical positions he entered the banking business and
was employed as a clerk until i88g, when he was appointed assistant national bank examiner for New York
city. He is a member of the Twenty-third Ward Republican Club, and the Sigma Alpha Phi Club, of
New York.
John Cooper, right general guide and acting sergeant-major of the first battalion, is a native of Eng-
land and was born in London on February 25, 1865. When he was five years old he was brought to the
United States, and was educated in the public schools. He is a member of Fort Greene Lodge, L O. 0. F.,
secretary of the Mutual Aid Association of the Brady Manufacturing Company, and recording and financial
secretary of the non-commissioned staff of the regiment. He enlisted in the 14th Regiment on April 9,
18S5, joining Company I as a private. In less than a year he became a corporal, and on March 2, 1887, he
was detailed as a marker. On March 19, 1888, he was appointed left general guide, and in February, 1889,
he was advanced to his present rank
TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
The 23d Regiment, although the youngest save one of all the state regiments, has risen to an eminence
among the commands composing the 2d Brigade which is most creditable to its officers and members. To
so high a degree has it been brought in equipment and discipline that, in the reports of the inspector-gene-
ral, it has received the highest figure of merit among all the regiments of the state. The organization of
the regiment resulted from a movement in April, 1861, for the formation of a home guard which, besides
acquiring proficiency in military duty, should provide relief for the families of the Brooklyn City Guard,
then away at the front. The newly formed company assumed the name of Relief Guard, Company G, 13th
Regiment. It adopted the fatigue dress of the 13th Regiment as its uniform, and perfected its organi-
zation by electing a board of civil officers. On June 19, 1861, it was determined to change the name of the
company from " Relief Guard " to " City Guard Reserve," and at the same time a movement in the direc-
tion of regimental organization was made. Application was made to the 13th Regiment for a position in its
ranks, but it was not granted. About this time Governor Morgan authorized the enrollment of four new
regiments of militia in Kings County, to be known as the nth Brigade, and commanded by the late General
Jesse C. Smith. The plan of regimental formation provided for the drawing by lot of thirty-five names
from the relief guard to form Company A of the new regiment, designated the " Twenty-third." The
E.xcelsior Guard, under the command of Captain IJeers, was to form Company B, and the remaining mem-
bers of the reserve were to form Company C. The drawing took place on January 20, 1862. Upon its
conclusion Company A was mustered into the state service. Company B was sworn in on the following
evening and Company C on the 31st of the same month. A fourth company, D, was soon after accepted
by the state authorities. This company numbered about sixty men drawn from the City Guard. Within
two months, four more companies, G, H, I and K, were added, raising the command to the status of a full
regiment, of which Captain Everdell was elected colonel. On June 16, 1863, the summons came for the
regiment to go to the front. Two days later it left for Harrisburg, Pa., where it was quartered in Camp
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
829
Twenty-Third Regiment Armory.
Curtin, and subsequently sent across the Susquehanna to Bridgeport Heights, to garrison Fort Washington
— an unfinished fortification in which the Twenty-third received its first introduction to the pick and
shovel as weapons of modern warfare. On June 29, detachments from the 23d, 8th and 56th regiments were
sent to Oyster Point for picket duty. Here the regiment received its first fire from the enemy. On July 17
it started on the return trip to Brooklyn. In October, 1863, Colonel Everdell resigned his commission and
was succeeded by Colonel Calvin E. Pratt. Colonel Pratt commanded the famous Light Brigade at Marye's
Heights, and was brevetted brigadier-general for conspicuous gallantry. He commanded the regiment until
March, 1868, his successor being Colonel Rodney C. Ward. In 1871, through the efforts of Colonel Ward,
a bill was passed by the legislature appropriating f 160,000 for the construction of a new armory for his
command. The corner-stone of the new building on Clermont, between Myrtle and Willoughby avenues,
was laid by Mayor S. S. Powell, in October, 1872, and the regiment took possession of its new home on Sep-
tember 30, 1873. In April, 1873, Company G had disbanded, but the vacant letter was taken up in Decem-
ber of the same )^ear by the enlistment in a body of the Brooklyn City Guard — formerly Company G, 13th
Regiment. The disbandment of Company I, in December, 1874, again reduced the regiment to eight com-
panies, at which number it remained until 1879, when Company H was organized, chiefly from the cadet corps
of the regiment. In 1884 a new company, I, was organized and the regiment increased to ten companies.
In July of the centennial year the command went to Philadelphia to take part in the Fourth of July parade.
Six months later the regiment formed a guard of honor at the funeral of the victims of the Brooklyn
theatre disaster. During the labor troubles of 1877 the regiment was stationed at Hornellsville, N. Y.,
that being considered the key to the strikers' position in this state. Colonel John N. Partridge succeeded
to the command in January, 1880. He resigned in February, 1882, to become fire commissioner of Brook-
lyn, under Mayor Low. A month later Colonel Rodney C. Ward was recalled to the command of the
regiment. The chief event of Colonel Ward's second administration was the inauguration by this regiment,
on July 18, 1882, of the state camp of instruction, at Peekskill. The state service uniform was adopted the
same year. Colonel Ward resigned in February, i-886, to become brigadier-general of the 4th Brigade. He
was succeeded by Charles L. Finck, who was elected colonel on March 22, 1886. In January, 1887, the
regiment celebrated its first quarter century of active duty. Colonel Finck resigned in May, 1887, on
account of ill health, and Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander S. Bacon commanded the regiment until October,
when Colonel Partridge was recalled to the command. With the exception of the chaplain, the present
officers of the regiment have all carried a rifle in the National Guard, and all but Colonel Partridge and
Lieutenant Oliver, the commissary — who were officers during the civil war — have served as enlisted men in
the Twenty-third. The field and staff officers in 1892 were: colonel, John N. Partridge; lieutenant-
colonel, Alexis C. Smith; major, Ezra DeForest ; adjutant, Theodore W. Sillcocks; quartermaster, George
8^0
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Edward Hall- commissary of subsistence, Richard Oliver ; surgeon, William E. Spencer ; assistant surgeon,
Henry I Cochran • chaplain, H. Price Collier; and inspector of rifle practice, Heywood C. Broun. At the
fill meeting of theNational Rifle Association, in 1891, the regimental team won the state and 2d Brigade
prizes A "member of the team, Sergeant Robert Findlay, Company G, won the military championship of
the United States m the president's match at Creedmoor. The veteran association of the 23d Regiment
was or-anized on February 15, 1870, and incorporated on January 27, 1874. The board of officers in 1892
consist^'ed of General Alfred C. Barnes, president ; Major Darius Ferry, vice-president ; E. S. Benedict,
secretary ■ F A. Rand, treasurer.
Colonel John N Partridge was born at Leicester, Worcester County, Mass., in 1838, and there
passed his early boyhood ; but when his school days ended he took up his residence in Boston. When the
Confederate batteries fired upon Fort Sumter he was a private in the New England Guards, an independent
military organization of Boston. The members of this
association volunteered in a body for the defence of
the nation's honor, and were mustered into service as
the 4th Battalion of Massachusetts volunteer militia,
and enrolled among the thirty days' men that answered
the president's first call for troops. At the end of
his thirty days' term of service, he entered the 24th
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as a first lieutenant,
and was promoted to a captaincy on February 6, 1864.
On May 16, of the same year, while leading his com-
pany in the assault on Fort Darling, at Drury's Bluff,
on the James River, he received a severe wound in
the temple, and was discharged from the service on
September 27 following, on account of sickness con-
tracted in the trenches before Petersburg. He made
his home in Brooklyn, and for a time devoted himself
exclusively to business, but on February 10, 1869, he
joined Company H of the 23d Regiment, and was
commissioned first lieutenant. In the same year he
was elected captain of Company K, and in 1871 became
major of his regiment. He held this position until
March, 1875, when he took his discharge. The life of
a civilian, however, failed to satisfy him, and once
more, at the solicitation of his comrades, his name was
placed on the regimental rolls and he was made com-
missary of subsistence on May 10, 1875. In June of
the same year he again became major, and on June
COLONEL joH.N N. P..HTMDOL. ^g^ ^g^g^ ,^ _ ^^.^^^ profflotcd to lieutenant-coloncl. From
January 10, 1S80, until February 15, 18S2, he was colonel of the regiment, resigning to accept the office of
fire commissioner, under Mayor Low. In this capacity he served the city from February 7, 18S2, until
February 5, 1S84, introducing many reforms and greatly improving the fire department. In 1884 he was
made police commissioner, and served in that capacity two years. In October, 1887, he was again placed at
the head " Ours," as the Twenty-third is called. He has done much to further the interests of the regiment,
To his efforts is due the state appropriation of $300,000 for the new armory on Bedford avenue and Pacific
street. He is president and general manager of the Brooklyn City and Newtown Railroad Company.
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexis C. Smith is a Brooklynite by birth, and has for many years been active
in the local militia. He was born on February 2, 1852, and is a son of the late Jesse C. Smith, who was for
fifty years a resident of Brooklyn, and held the office of surrogate of Kings County in 1852. Jesse C. Smith
was colonel of the 14th New York Regiment before the war, and afterwards organized and commanded the
nth Brigade, of Brooklyn. Alexis C. Smith began his military career at the Polytechnic Institute, being a
member there of a company of which Seth Low was captain. He joined Company A, 23d Regiment, on
March i, 1876; was elected corporal on September 4, 1S78, and sergeant on June 4, 1879. Having served
a year as instructor of the cadet corps connected with the regiment, he was made first sergeant of Company
H, when the cadets were formally enrolled in the regiment under that designation in September, 1879. He
was elected first lieutenant on March 5, 1880, captain on October 16, 1882, and lieutenant-colonel on
December 5, 1887. Like his father before him, he is a lawyer as well as a military man.
Major Ezra Df. Forest has served more than twenty years in the 23d Regiment and has risen through
every grade fr(jm that of private to the one he now hcjlds. He was born in Bridgeport, Conn., in 185 1, but
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
831
has lived in this city since infancy. He was educated at the public schools and at the Adelphi Academy,
from which he was graduated. On October 19, 1872, he enlisted in Company C, 23d Regiment. He married,
in 1880, Mary Gordon Wilber, daughter of Dr. J. G. Wilber.
Richard Oliver, commissary in the 23d Regiment, is the oldest commissioned officer in the state of New
York. He served — from April 19, 1861 — one year in the yth Regiment as private and the remaining three
years of the war, until its close, in the 13th Regiment as second lieutenant. He has been a member of the
rifle team since 1885, and has won many medals. He is now second lieutenant of the Veteran Association
of the Brooklyn City Guard. He has long been a citizen of Brooklyn, and has devoted many years of his
life to mission work in the fifth ward. He is a jeweler doing business in New York. He is an Englishman
by birth, and is sixty-five years old. He received a good education in Buffalo, N. Y. He has found time,
besides looking after the poor, to indulge his public spirit in other matters also beneficial to the city. He
was one of the originators of the Young Republican Club ; was some years a member of the volunteer fire
department, and has been identified with the E.xcelsior Club since 1857.
Captain Willard LyiM.\n Candee has lived in Brooklyn since 1862, and his residence is one of the
centres of social life in Brooklyn. He married when
twenty-one years old, his wife being a daughter of
Timothy Cornwall, and a member of one of the oldest '
families in Brooklyn. He is a member of the Union
League Club and vice-president of the Electric Club, of
New York. In 1875 he enlisted in the 23d Regiment
as a private in Company C, and he is now captain of
Company B, ranking as the senior captain in the regi-
ment. He is one of the best marksmen in the service,
and has been a winner of trophies from the beginning
of the competitive rifle contests in the state militia,
winning a bar every year since 1875. His progress
in the science of military tactics is indicated by the
record of his advance from the ranks ; he was made
sergeant of Company C in January, 1877 ; first ser-
geant in May, 1879; was elected second lieutenant of
Company B just a year after and attained the rank of
first lieutenant late in 1882. In the business world he
occupies the position of resident manager of the Inter-
national Okonite Company (Limited). This is an Eng-
lish corporation, and its annual meetings are held in
England, but it is of American origin. Captain Candee
was for a time a director of the Franklin Avenue street
railroad, of Brooklyn, and he is vice-president of the
Suburban Electrical Light Company, of Elizabeth, N. J.
He began his business career in the machine manu-
facturing business, from which he went into the busi-
ness of electric lighting, and then into the telephone
business. He laid the first cable across the Brooklyn Bridge when Henry C. Murphy was president, and later
became interested in the manufacture of wires for electrical purposes. He was born in Yonkers, N. Y., in
1851, and is the son of the late Edward W. Candee, who for many years was in the stock brokerage busi-
ness in New York, and was afterwards in the real estate business in Brooklyn. He was educated at the
Adelphi Academy.
Charles R. Silkman, captain of Company G, joined Company C on February 20, 1882, as a private
and in 1883 he was elected a corporal. In June, 1885, he was given the rank of sergeant by a unanimous
vote. When the regiment visited Newport in 1886 he accompanied it and wore the shoulder straps of a
second lieutenant. His promotion to the first lieutenancy of the company was made in January, 1890. Eight
months later he was elected captain of Company G in the same regiment, and his commission was issued
to him in September, 1890. The company has maintained an e.xcellent character under his command and
stands high in the matters of drill, discipline and numbers. As a business man he has had a successful
career and is now engaged in the drygoods commission business in New York. He began as a boy in the dry-
goods store of William Knisely & Co., in that city. In 1883 he interested a number of capitalists, among
whom was Governor Howard, of Rhode Island, in a project for the manufacture of book-binders' cloth.
The result was the organization of the Interlaken Mills, at Providence, R. I. Mr. Silkman was born in
New York city on May 27, 1859, and was a student at Madison University, Hamilton, N. Y., until 1876,
Captain Willakd L. Candee.
832
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
when he began his business experience. In 1880 he
married Irene E. Hallock, daughter of Thomas A.
Hailoci^, of Mattituck, L. I. He has been a member
of the Union League Club since 1890.
Charles H, Pennover, who joined the Brooklyn
City Guard on May 28, 1862, has been in the military
service of the state continuously since that time.
He was a member of the 13th Regiment for eleven
years, became a corporal and afterwards, a sergeant in
Company G, and was the recipient of the ten years'
war service medal given by that regiment to long
service men who were war veterans. He left the
Thirteenth in 1873 to join the 23d Regiment as ser-
geant of Company G, and afterward he became first
sergeant. He is the oldest member of the regiment
in point of service and has received its ten year and
its fifteen year war service medals. He was born in
Norwalk, Conn., on September 8, 1841, and came to
Brooklyn in his boyhood. He attended the public
schools until he was seventeen years old, when he
obtained employment in a hardware store, where he
continued until he went to the front with the 13th
Regiment. Later he went to California, and was
engaged eighteen months in the hardware and min-
ing implement business. Returning to New York he
was employed as salesman with William Bryce & Co.,
hardware dealers, of New York, seventeen years. Then he founded the United States Net and Twine
Company, and was a partner in that concern from 1881 until 1886. In November, 1886, he began in New
York his present business, which is the manufacture and sale of fishing tackle, twine and sporting goods.
Captain Charles R. .Silk.vian,
FORTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.
The 47th Regiment had its beginning in the summer and fall of 1861, when three companies of home
guards were organized in the eastern section of the
city. With the understanding that a regiment was to
be formed, J. V. Meserole took command of one of
these, which afterward was known as Company A. On
January 17, 1862, the first three commands were mus-
tered into the service of the state. Company D was
sworn in during the month, and Companies E and F
in March. As there were then si-x companies, regi-
mental organization was effected, and an election
for colonel was held. Captain J. V. Meserole was
chosen for the position, and the regiment was desig-
nated in his honor, the Forty-seventh, he having been
a membe- of the fourth company of the 7th Regi-
ment. In May, Companies G and H were sworn in.
About two months after thg election of Colonel Mese-
role word came from state headquarters to prepare
for duty at the front. At noon on May 29 marching
orders were received and at half-past four o'clock the
ne.xt day the regiment started on its way to Washing-
ton. A short stay was made at the capitol, and then
the regiment was ordered to Baltimore, where it estab-
lished Camp Williamsburgh, on Druid Hill. The 4th
New York vacated Fort McHenry soon afterwards, and
the 47th took possession. On June i8th the regiment
was mustered into the United States service for a
term of three months from the time it left Brooklyn.
The 47th was relieved by the 18th Connecticut and Colonel John G. eddy.
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
^33
Forty-Seventh Regiment Armory (Present), North Portland Avenue.
marched from the fort to Baltimore on its way home. Companies C and H were disbanded, and the other
companies were kept at work in their quarters until June, 1863, when, with Company I, which has been
organized in February, it went to the front again, this time to Virginia. After thirty days' service the
regiment was recalled on account of the draft riots, and continued on duty in Brooklyn for two months.
Company K, Captain Powell, was mustered into the regiment on February 5, 1862, and another company,
H, was organized in the fifteenth ward by Captain Sullivan, but at present it is not in existence. On
April 8, 1868, Colonel Meserole was made brigadier-general and David E. Austen, now in command of the
13th Regiment, was chosen colonel of the 47th. He was succeeded on September 5, 1877, by William H.
Brownell, who was followed, on his promotion to brigadier-general, by Major Truman V. Tuttle, Lieutenant-
Colonel George C. Bradley having resigned. After Colonel Tuttle, the commandant was Edward F. Gaylor,
the predecessor of John G. Eddy, the present colonel of the regiment. The field and staff officers of the
regiment are colonel, John G. Eddy; lieutenant-colonel, William Henry Hubbell ; major, William R. Petti-
grew; adjutant, Walter F. Barnes ; quartermaster, Andrew R. Baird ; commissary of subsistence, John George
Herold, Jr.; surgeon, Charles N. Co.x ; assistant surgeon, Fred DeForest Bailey; chaplain, James Henry
Darlington; inspector of rifle practice, Frank J. LeCount, Jr.
Colonel John G. Eddy owes his predilection for military life in some measure to the influence of
heredity. His great-grandfather, John Eddy, was an ensign in the train band of Gloucester, Mass., and
held a commission dated May 6, 1776; he fought in the revolutionary war. His grandfather, John Eddy,
Jr., was colonel in the Massachusetts militia and also served as a member of the Bay State legislature.
Colonel Eddy is the direct descendant of William Eddy, born at Bristol, England, in 1550, and of John
Eddy, who with his brother arrived at Plymouth, Mass., on August 10, 1630. John G. Eddy was born in
New York on August 17, 1852, but was educated at public school No. 11 in this city; after being graduated
there he engaged in business with his father George M. Eddy, with whom he is now associated in the firm of
George M. Eddy & Co. Colonel Eddy entered the ranks of the 47th Regiment as a private, on November
16, 1875; he became second lieutenant on October 30, 1877 ; first lieutenant on October 8, 187S; adjutant
on April 6, 1881 ; major on November 19, 1884; lieutenant-colonel on April 2, 1S90; and colonel on March
18, 1891. Colonel Eddy has qualified as a marksman at Creedmoor for sixteen successive years, and for
six years was a member of the 2d Brigade examining board He is a member of the Union League Club.
In 1879 he married Miss Virginia H. O'Hara, of Brooklyn.
THIRD BATTERY.
What is now the Third (Gatling) Battery was organized on August 15, 1864, by Major E. O. Hotchkiss,
a member of Brigadier-General J. C. Smith's staff. It was known as Company A, first Battery, light artillery,
834
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
and was armed with howitzers. Major Hotchkiss, who
was the first commandant, was succeeded by First
Lieutenant Joseph S. Amoore. In 1868 he gave way
to First Lieutenant Ira L. Beebe and, in 1870, on the
Latter's appointment as chief of artillery on the 2d
Division staff, W. H. H. Beebe took command. Suc-
ceeding him, Julius F. Simons was captain and in 1872
Ira L. Beebe returned to his old position. He was
followed by John A. Edwards, whose successor was
Henry S. Rasquin, the present commandant. The bat-
tery was housed originally in the old state armory on
the site of the present quarters of the 14th Regiment.
In May, 1875, when it had become the Catling Battery
of the nth Brigade, it was transferred to the city
armory on Henry street. Designated on January i,
187S, as Battery N, it was four years later renamed the
3cl Battery. Just previous to the election of Captain
i^„™4 '^j^j^^B^^Uffl^t^^W Rasquin, the command moved from Henry street to
I* 3* 'SH^^^P I^^B^^K Cothic Hall, on Adams street. This building was
destroyed by fire on December 19, 1882, and from that
time until the battery had a home of its own, at 759-
765 Dean street, drills were held in the 14th Regiment
armory, on North Portland avenue. The battery
made its first public appearance with howitzers at the
obsequies of President Lincoln. During the railroad
riot of 1S77 it was called out to do active duty.
The battery is now armed with four fifty calibre Catling guns and four twelve pound howitzers. Over
seventy men are on the muster roll and a fine showing is always made of the men at inspection and on
parade. The officers are : captain, Henry S. Rasquin ; first lieutenant, Henry H. Rogee ; second lieutenants,
George E. Laing and E. 1). Chemidlin ; surgeon, C. D. Beasley. A biographical sketch of Captain
Henry S. Rasquin, whose portrait is here given, will be found in the chapter on The Bench and Bar.
Captain Henry S. Rasquin.
SIGNAL CORPS.
The Signal Corps attached to the 2d Brigade was organized as a part of the nth Brigade in 1879, by
Major Morris B. Farr, under orders from General Edward L. Molineu.x, the members being volunteers from
the several regiments. In 1S85 General Molineux made it a distinct organization, directed by Major
(;e()rge R. Herbert, as signal officer, and attached the corps to the headquarters of the 2d Division.
Major H. D. Perrine, who had been the first captain of the corps, succeeded Major Herbert as signal
ofiicer in Afay of the following year and Captain Frederick T. Leigh took command of the corps. A few
months later the division was abolished, and the corps was ordered to disband ; but through the efforts of
General McLeer and others it was not mustered out of service, and in 1887 Governor Hill authorized the
formation of a 2d Brigade signal corps. Captain Frederick T. Leigh was appointed signal officer on the 2d
Brigade Staff, continuing in command of the new organization, and the headquarters of the corps were estab-
lished in a room on the top floor of the Hall of Records, near the headquarters of the brigade. From the
roof of the building communication with the several armories of the city can be easily established. Signals
are made in the day time with red or white flags, according as the background is light or dark. At night
the signaling, or "wig-wagging," as it is called, is done with torches. The flags designated as "large" and
"small" are four and two feet square, and are mounted on poles eight and four feet long respectively.
The American Morse alphabet is used. The dot is represented by a movement to the right of the sender,
the dash by a movement to the left, and a motion to the front denotes a space. In the rapidity and correct-
ness of the work Captain Leigh's men are unexcelled by any similar organization in the country.
ex-officers
It is difficult, within ordinary limits of space, to do justice to the achievements of Major-General
Edward L. Mulinku.x, or to give expression to what his comrades and subordinates would say of him. A
mere catalogue of his distinguished services in the army and in the service of the state — any one of them
sufficient for a "record" — would fill images of this volume; and every man who has come in contact with
him in official relations has something to add to the story of his bravery, wisdom, skill, prudence and con-
siderateness. With countless opportunities for putting himself forward, he was always ready to leave all
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
83s
the show work to others, and every member of his division stafi remembers how he invariably cautioned
them to see that the brigade commanders had full credit for what was done. He was born on October 12,
1833, in London, England, of a family which, under the name of Molyneux, had flourished since the days of
the Conqueror. Coming to America in his infancy, he was educated at the Mechanics' Society School, in
New York, and entered the business house of ex-mayor Daniel F. Tiemann, in which he became a partner,
continuing there until the beginning of the war. After the war he became a partner in the wholesale paint
and artists' supplies house of C. T. Raynolds & Co., where he remains. He is a member of the Chamber of
Commerce, of the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, and has held various offices in the associ-
ations of the paint trade. His soldiering began in 1854, when he became a member of the Brooklyn City
Guard, Company G, 13th Regiment. At the first call for troops in 1861, he joined the 7th Regiment and
went to the front. Returning, he was prominent in the organization of the 23d Regiment, of which he
became lieutenant colonel, and was instrumental in reorganizing the nth Brigade. In 1862, with the rank
of lieutenant-colonel, he raised the 139th Regiment,
N. Y. Volunteers, and in November of that year, as full
colonel, he was mustered with his regiment into the
service of the United States. Assigned to the Banks
expedition, his men were the first to land at Baton
Rouge, La. At the battle of Irish Bend, April 14, 1863,
as he was leading his men and rallying them with
" Forward, New York ! " he was shot in the mouth, the
ball carrying away part of his jaw. The " draft riots "
occurring during his absence on sick leave, he vol-
unteered his services and did effective duty during
those troubles. He was back in the field by July, and
served as assistant inspector on the staff of Major-
General Franklin ; as provost marshal general and
commissioner for exchange of prisoners ; as military
commander of the La Fourche District ; at Bermuda
Hundreds with Butler, and in the Shenandoah Valley.
He was promoted to be brigadier-general for conspicu-
ous gallantry and zeal at Fisher's Hill, Winchester and
Cedar Creek. He was afterwards brevetted major-
general for gallantry during the war. As military com-
mander of the northern district of Georgia, near the
end of the war and after it, he not only secured obedi-
ence to the government, but did it so wisely as to
receive the thanks of the mayor, citizens and common
council of Augusta for his " bold administration of mili-
tary law," which "brought order out of chaos" while
it "respected the rights of the citizens," and led them
Among the endorsements on his papers recommending his
promotion were those of Generals Sheridan, Gillmore, Emory, Hurlbut, Grover, Birge, Woodford and others.
In 1868 he was by act of legislature commissioned major-general for his sevices during the war. When the
nth Brigade, N. G., S. N. Y., was organized he became the brigade inspector. In 1879 he was given the
command of the brigade, and in 1884 he v/as appointed by Governor Cleveland major-general, commanding
the 2d Division. During his tenure of this command, which lasted until all the Brooklyn regiments were
included in a single brigade, he devoted himself to practically preparing the troops for service. Special
attention was given to street riot drill, both by day and by night ; field mancEuvres over rough ground, and
out-door drill in winter, which he demonstrated was healthier than summer work. His development of the
signal service in the National Guard was perhaps the most strikingly successful of his measures. Among
his contributions to military literature are published articles on "Riots in Cities," "Railroad Riots and
their Suppression," and " Military Drill in Public Schools." His plan for the latter form of education was
practically exemplified in the cadet system of Boston. Abroad he has been identified with the problem of
military operations in desert campaigns, for which he submitted plans for a water supply on the principle
of the American pipe-lines. He offered to take a corps of five hundred American rifles to attempt the
relief of Gordon at Khartoum, paying his own expenses and serving without compensation, if James Gordon
Bennett would guarantee the funds of the corps. General Molineux was president of the National Rifle
Association during the time of the international match in which Sir Henry Halford captained the British
team. He has been commander of the New York Military Order of the Loyal Legion, president of the
Major-general Edward L. Molineux.
to " cherish a sincere respect " for him.
§36
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
United Service Club and 19th Army Corps, vice-president of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, and
is a member of Rankin Post, No. 10, G. A. R. As a mason he is a member of Mistletoe Lodge. He is also
a member of the Brooklyn and the United Service club.
Ceneral Edward B Fowler, war colonel of the 14th Regiment, possesses an enviable record of mili-
tary service His ancestors were among the early settlers of Hempstead, L. I. He was born in New York
in 1827 but his family came to Brooklyn when he was an infant. Besides availing himself of the educa-
tional f'acilites afforded by the public schools of that period, he received special instruction, from a graduate
of Yale College ia mathematics, for which he evinced a marked talent, and in other studies not included in
the school curriculum Early in life he displayed a predilection for military affairs, and at the age of eighteen
was serving as first sergeant of the Union Blues. When the 14th Regiment was organized in 1847, he
received a lieutenant's commission and afterward rose
through every rank to that of colonel. When the
14th went to the front he gave up his position as an
accountant with the Brooklyn Gas Light Company
and engaged in active service as lieutenant-colonel.
He succeeded to the command of his regiment after
the first battle of Bull Run. In that memorable
engagement Lieutenant-Colonel Fowler was reported
to have been killed, and extended obituary notices
were published in the daily papers on the decease of a .
gallant soldier. He was seriously wounded at Grove-
ton, or the second Bull Run, and again at Gettysburg,
but on the latter occasion his injury was not grave
enough to prevent his continuing in command of his
men. During the war he also participated in the en
gagements at Binn's Hill, Falmouth, Spottsylvania
Rappahannock Station, Sulphur Springs, Gainesville
Seminary Hill, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Laurel Hill
and Spottsylvania Court House, in all of which he was
eiiher in command of the regiment or of the brigade tc
which it was attached. He was mustered out of ser-
vice with his regiment on June 6, 1864, and, for gal-
lant and meritorious conduct, was brevetted brigadier-
general. His connection with the 14th continued for
a year or two longer, until terminated by his resigna-
tion. He has been for years president of the 14th N. Y.
S. M. War Veteran Association. General Fowler's ener-
gies, since his return from the war, have been succes-
sively directed to duties as custom house official, merchant, bank officer, chief clerk of the Brooklyn board of
audit, treasurer of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, chief clerk of the internal revenue depart-
ment of this city, and auditor of the Commercial Cable Company, of New York. He was at one time a
member of the Kings County board of supervisors, representing the eleventh ward in that body. In 1852
he married Miss Annie Cook. The fire in General Fowler's house, at 532 Monroe street, on March 15,
1891, remains fresh in the recollection of a community that keenly sympathized with him in the death of his
youngest son, William D., who lost his life on that occasion.
Edward Fackner, ex-colonel of the 13th Regiment, is not at present actively connected with the
National Guard, but is a thorough guardsman, having served the state twenty-two years. He was born in New
York city in 1849, and before he had completed his education the civil war had begun. In June, 1863, when
but fourteen years old, he went to the front with the 12th Regiment, N. G., S. N. Y.,and passed his fifteenth
birthday in Carlisle, Pa., when the Confederates under General Fitz Hugh Lee stormed that town. In 1886
he married the eldest daughter of Leonard Moody, and later entered his father-in-law's real estate office, of
which he is now the manager. He inherited his military tastes from his father, who served twenty-seven
years in the militia and was captain of a v:avalry troop in the 8th Regiment. Colonel Fackner served six-
teen years in the 12th Regiment, going through all the grades, from private to captain of Company K, and
was considered an authority on the skirmish drill. His company was selected to drill as skirmishers before
United States army officers in Madison Square Garden. In 1881 he resigned from the 12th Regiment and
later was elected captain of Company E, 13th Regiment. In 1885 he was elected lieutenant-colonel and
subsequently colonel, resigning while in Europe, He is a member of Lafayette Post, No. 140, G. A. R.,
Socrates Lodge, F. & A. M., the Montauk Club and the Amaranth Literary and Dramatic Society.
Brigadier-General Edward B. Fowler.
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
837
Willis L. Ogden, who formerly held the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the 23d Regiment, began his
military career in the 13th Regiment in 1861, and went south with that organization during the civil war.
From the 13th he went to the 23d Regiment, and for many years he was captain of Company K. His
service in the National Guard continued for twenty years. He was born in Philadelphia, in October, 1843.
After a course of study at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute he began his business life at the age of
fourteen. He has lived in Brooklyn since 1852 ; he is a member of the First Presbyterian Church and a
director of the Young Men's Christian Association.
He is also a member of the Hamilton Club and of the
Brooklyn Young Republican Club.
Ch.^rles E. Waters, late major of the 23d Regi-
ment, enlisted as a private in Company A, on January
7, 1874. He was made corporal of the same company
on March i, 1875; sergeant on March 15, 1876 ; first
sergeant on May 6, 1878; first lieutenant of Company
E, on May 6, 1879; captain of Company K, on March
4, 1880, and major of the regiment on April 19, 1886.
He resigned in June, 1892. Mr. Waters was born in
New York city, in 1846.
BROOKLYN CITY GUARD.
In August, 1842, a call was issued inviting all who
wished to aid in the organization of a volunteer mili-
tary company in the city of Brooklyn, to attend a
meeting which was to be held on the evening of the
23d inst. This call was signed by Seth Haskell Low,
L. L. Atwater and John M. Pratt, and the meeting was
held in a building which then stood on the corner
of Furman and Fulton streets. An organization was
effected of an artillery company, James N. Olney being
the first captain. For some years the Brooklyn City
Guard, as it was first named, drilled and held meet-
ings in the building in which its organization was
effected. Then Gothic Hall, on Adams street, was
fitted up as an armory, and there balls and other gather-
ings of a social character were held — in fact, the City Guard was looked upon as the fashionable military
organization of the city. Until 1847 the City Guard remained a separate and independent organization,
but in that year it became affiliated with the 13th Regiment, of which it became the right flank company,
under Colonel Abel Smith and Lieutenant-Colonel Edwin Beers. Captain Olney retained his position for
several years, and then went to California, and afterwards became a brigadier-general during the war,
serving on the western frontier. Thomas Brooks succeeded him in the captaincy, and he, in turn, was fol-
lowed by William Everdell and Richard V. W. Thorne, Jr., the latter having been a cadet at West Point.
Commanded by Captain Thorne, on April 23, 1861, the company, as a part of the 13th Regiment, left Brook-
lyn, on a three months' term of service. In 1862, they served another three months' term under the same
captain, and in 1863, one month in Pennsylvania. Captain Thorne meanwhile had retired, and William R.
Hunter was appointed in his place. In 1873, the company was transferred to the 23d Regiment, becoming
Company G, the first captain being Alfred H. Williams, who was succeeded in 1885 by Harold L. Crane, the
latter being followed by George W. Middleton. Among those who served as members of the Brooklyn City
Guard were many who have since become prominent in commercial, social and political life. There are
comparatively few of the older members still alive, but those remaining are organized as the Veteran Asso-
ciation of the Brooklyn City Guard. This organization was effected on April 5, 187 1. The membership in
1892 was 130, and the officers were: John B. Woodward, captain; Edward A. Seccomb, first lieutenant;
Richard Oliver, second lieutenant; Bernard Suydam, first sergeant; Morgan G. Bulkeley, quartermaster.
The association gives annual dinners at some one of the principal hotels.
Lieutenant-Colonel Clifford L. Middleton is counted among the most prominent veterans of the
Brooklyn City Guard and is a member of the Veterans' Association of the 23d Regiment. He enlisted as
a private in Company G, 13th Regiment, on June i, 1870, and was elected corporal on May 7, 1873, being
transferred with Company G to the 23d Regiment on January 2, 1873. His staff services began on Febru-
ary 7, 1880, when he was appointed first lieutenant and aide-de-camp of the tith Brigade. On February
27, 1882, he was commissioned captain and aide-de-camp of the 4th Brigade. On February 19, 1883, he
Colonel Edward Fackner.
S,S THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
became commissary of subsistence, and on April 23, 1883, he was promoted to the rank of major. On
January 5, 18.85, l^e became quartermaster; and on April 19, 1886, he became lieutenant-colonel and assist-
ant adjutant-o-eneral of the 4th Brigade. He served successively on the staffs of Generals Molineux,
Browned and Ward and was made a supernumary officer of the state with the rank of lieutenant-colonel
on Aun-ust 5, 1886. He was still on this list in 1893. From 1887 to 1889 he was an associate member of
the Old Guard, of New York. He was born in Brooklyn on July 31, 1850, and until his seventeenth year
attended private schools. He then entered the commission business in the employ of Middleton & Co., a
firm which was founded in 1834 by his father, J. N. B. Middleton, and his uncle, Thomas D. Middleton.
On January i, 1872, he became a partner in the firm. He has been a member of the produce exchange
since 1885. He is a life member of the Hamilton Club, the Brooklyn Riding and Driving Club, and the
Marine and Field Club; and a life member of the Excelsior Club.
Harold L. Crane, who is a veteran of the 23d Regiment and a member of the veteran association of
the Brooklyn City Guard, was a National Guardsman twenty-three years and four months, and retired in
1889 with the rank of captain. He has made an interesting record of having risen from the ranks twice,
for after obtaining a staff position he was obliged by illness to retire for about a year and after his recovery
he enlisted again as a private. His first enlistment was in the 23d Regiment in March, 1864. After serving
five years he was appointed on General Meserole's staff, where he served until 1876, when his military
record was interrupted by the visitation of illness just mentioned. In 1877 he joined Company G in his
old regiment and was in the ranks until 1879, when he was made a sergeant. His promotion to a second
lieutenancy was made the same year. He was commissioned as first lieutenant in 1880, and his captam's
commission was issued in March, 1885. Mr. Crane is a descendant of an English family which settled in
America in 1650. He was born in New York city on February 4, 1846, and his parents came to Brooklyn
to live in 1848. He obtained his education at the Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, and at the High School
in New York, and began business on his own account on February 4, 1867, when he became a member of
the New York firm of Shannon, Miller & Crane, dealers in military and importers of French goods. In
1867 he married Miss Elsie E. Dillon, daughter of Robert Dillon. He is a member of the Hamilton Club
and of the Seawanhaka, Corinthian and Great South Bay yacht clubs. He is also a member of the Down
Town Club, of New York.
James W. Sands was a member of the Brooklyn City Guard when it was in the service of the United
States government in 1861, as Company G, 13th Regiment, and he is now enrolled as a member of the
veteran association of the Guard. Subsequently he served in the navy, receiving an appointment as
assistant paymaster. He was on Admiral Farragut's flagship " Hartford " and was one of the great naval
commander's officers when New Orleans, Port Hudson and Vicksburg were captured. Although of Ameri-
can parentage, he was born in Liverpool, England, on August i, 1838, but came to America before he was
a year old. His father, Joseph T. Sands, who died in 1890 in the eighty-third year of his age, was an old
and honored resident of Brooklyn. James W. Sands ended his studies when he was nineteen years old and
became a clerk in the employ of his uncle, Joseph Sands, with whom he remained until the beginning of
the war. Upon the return of peace he engaged in the railway and electric supply business. He married
Miss E. J. Durham, of Durhamville, N. Y. He has been a member of the Hamilton Club five or six years,
of the Marine and Field Club since its organization and of the Union League Club, New York, since i8gi.
Charles F. Hitzelberger is a veteran of the 23d Regiment who rendered faithful service to the state
as a member of the National Guard for twelve years. He enlisted in Company G (Brooklyn City Guard)
in April, 1879. He is an enthusiast on military matters and is enrolled in the veteran association of the
Guard. His father, Frederick Hitzelberger, was a union soldier during the civil war and was for many
years an officer in the state militia. Charles F. Hitzelberger is a native Brooklynite and was born on April
5, 1853. After receiving his early education at a private school he was a student at the Hoboken Academy.
In 1880 he began business on his own account as printer, lithographer and manufacturing stationer. He
married Miss Maria A. Hobe, daughter of Charles Hobe. He is a Mason and a member of Stella Lodge.
James A. Avres joined the City Guard on April 22, 1861, and went with it on its three months' cam-
paign in that year and on its thirty days' campaign in 1863. He was made a corporal in 1863 and retired
with that rank. He is a veteran of the 13th Regiment and a member of the veteran association of the
Guard. New Canaan, C(jnn., is his native place, and he was born on October 11, 1840. His parents
removed to iirookiyn when he was four years old and he attended both public and private schools. His
early business life was passed in various lines of trade until 1867, when he was employed by a grain ware-
housing company, with which he remained as confidential clerk. He is a member of the Brooklyn Riding
and Driving, Excelsior and Crescent clubs.
Benjamin Haskell joined the Brooklyn City Guard in 1855, and during his membership in the com-
pany he was a corporal and then sergeant. He went to the front with the company in 1861, and in 1863
he was ni the Union army again as chief of staff of the nth Brigade and participated in the battle of
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
839
Gettysburg. As a veteran he affiliates with Clarence
D. McKenzie Post, 399, G. A. R. He is treasurer of
the American Wood Decorating Machine Company, of
New York. This company, in which a number of well-
known Brooklynites are interested, does a large busi-
ness in the production of machines for embossing or
otherwise ornamenting wood with designs representing
carved work for mouldings, panels and other orna-
mental purposes. Mr. Haskell was born in New York
city on November 3, 1835, of New England parent-
age, and was educated at Davenport Academy, Brook-
lyn. He married Miss Hattie E. Steele, daughter of
Perez S. Steele, a drygoods merchant in New York.
The records of the City Guard show that James
F. Atkinson joined that organization on April 3, 1S61,
and served with his comrades in the three months'
campaign at Suffolk, Va., and also in the thirty days'
campaign when the services of the state troops were
needed to repel Lee's dash into Pennsylvania. After
spending five years in the ranks he retired with two
honorable discharges from the government. He is
counted as one of the most active members of the
veteran association. He is the Long Island agent for
the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of
Milwaukee. He was born in Rochester, N. Y., on
Benjamin Haskell. \-i o 1 iii- tii
April 10, 1834, and was educated ni a private school
near that city. Mr. Atkinson married Miss Louisa M. Fitch, daughter of James M. Fitch, of Oberlin, O.
Samuel H. Kissam is one of the members of the veteran association who was with the Brooklyn City
Guard when it went on its three months' campaign. He joined the corps as a private in 1854 and rose to
the rank of first lieutenant. In 1863 he resigned on account of his business engagements. He is the son of
a clergyman, and was born in the town of Bethlehem, near Albany, N. Y., in 1831. His school life was
passed at a boarding school in Chatham, Columbia County, N. Y., and in 1846 he came to Brooklyn with his
father, who retired from the ministry in that year. Since 1863 he has been engaged in the banking and
brokerage business in New York. He married Miss Sarah Pinkney, whose father, William T. Pinkney, was
president of a well-known insurance company.
William Ellsworth joined the City Guard in May, 1862, and was with the organization in both of its
campaigns as Company G of the 13th Regiment. He is now a veteran of the regiment. He has had a long
and varied business experience, and is now connected with the Caledonia Insurance Company. His father
was a prominent citizen of Brooklyn, and was a descendant of an English family which settled in Holland
during the reign of William and Mary, and came to New Amsterdam before 1700. William Ellsworth was
born in Brooklyn on July 5, 1838, and was educated at the public schools and the College of the City of
New York.
Charles J. Holt joined the 14th Regiment in 1861, acting with the engineer corps. After the dis-
abling of Colonel Wood at the first battle of Bull Run, he served under Colonel Fowler until May, 1862, when
he enlisted in the 13th Regiment. He has been a member since 1873 of Company G, the Brooklyn City
Guard, now in the 23d Regiment, of which he is quartermaster-sergeant. He has resided in Brooklyn since
1S46, and has been a member of the Amaranth Dramatic Association sixteen years ; for six years he was
vice-president of the society. He has been a member of the Excelsior Club since its organization and was
a member of the volunteer fire department nine years as one of Pacific Company, No. 14. He has been
a member of the Gilbert Dramatic Society since 1882, and is also a member of Lafayette Post, 140, G. A. R.
He was born in Richmond Va., on July 26, 1835. When five years of age his parents brought him to New
York, where he attended public school No. 5. Later he studied at Betts' Institute, Stamford, Conn.
Bernard Suvuam enlisted in Company G, 23d Regiment, on March 12, 1886. He was made corporal
on January 25, 1889, and sergeant on February 29, 1892. He became a veteran in March, 1891, and a mem-
ber of the veteran association of the City Guard in the same year. In Api'il, 1892, he was unanimously
elected secretary of the association. He was made a mason in Lexington Lodge, 310, F. & A. M,, in Feb-
ruary, 1891, and in the following December was installed as senior deacon. He was born in Queens,
Long Island, on August 10, 1865. His father, Isaac D. B. Suydam, was born in Bushwick, now part of the
city of Brooklyn, December 16, 1823, After receiving his education the elder Suydam remained at home until
840
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Bernard Suydam.
September, 1846, when he married Miss Phebe Ryder,
daughter of Lawrence Ryder, and sister of John L.
Ryder, who was supervisor of the town of Flatlands a
number of years. Bernard Suydam received his early
education at a public school in the village of Queens,
and at the age of fourteen attended Browne's College
in Brooklyn, from which he was graduated in March,
18S2. He entered the employ of S. H. Payne, of New
York, who was at that time one of the largest for-
warding agents in the city, where he remained two
and one-half years, after which he was connected with
George Pence in the cigar business. In July, 1886,
he connected himself with the manufacturmg concern
of Jacob Adler & Co. in New York.
Walter K. Paye, a member of the veteran asso-
ciation of the Guard, donned the uniform of a militia-
man in 1859 as a private in the New York City Guard,
and, after a membership of two years in that organi-
zation, transferred his name to the rolls of the Brook-
lyn City Guard, when it was Company G, 13th Regi-
ment. He continued a member of Company G until
it was merged in Company G, 23d Regiment, and then
was honorably discharged. He joined the Old Guard,
of New York, in which was incorporated his old com-
pany, the New York City Guard, which united with
the New York Light Guard after the war in forming
the Old Guard. He has held the positions of corporal, sergeant and lieutenant, and for three years was
vice-president. He is interested in a number of social organizations including the Hamilton and the Rem-
brandt clubs, and the Lisurance Club, of New York city. He is a director of the Apollo Club and assisted
in the organization of the Amaranth Dramatic Society, in which he held membership four or five years.
He has been connected with the Guardian Fire Insurance Company, New York, twenty-five years and was
elected to the presidency in 1885. He married Helen M. Fordham, daughter of A. S. Fordham, an old resi-
dent of Brooklyn.
For twenty years, and until April, 1892, when he resigned, J. Oscar Voute held the secretaryship of
the veteran association. He enlisted in Company G, 13th Regiment, in January, 1862, and served from
May until September at Suffolk, Va. Afterward he successively held the ranks of corporal, sergeant and
lieutenant. His military history is identified with that of the Brooklyn City Guard for a period of seven-
teen years in the 13th and 23d Regiments. He is a member of Lafayette Post, 140, G. A. R. His ances-
tors were Huguenots, who, seeking refuge in Holland, settled in Amsterdam. He was born in October,
1840, at Hanau, a town near Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany. At the age of four he was brought to the
United States by his parents and received his educati(jn at the College of the City of New York. He left
that institution in 1858 and began work in the offices of the New York Life Insurance Company, in whose
employ he has since remained. He is a member of the Huguenot Society of America, the Reform Club, the
Delta Kapiia Epsilon Club of New York and Anglo-Sa.xon Lodge, 137, F. & A. M. He married Henrietta
V. Conradt, daughter of Theophilus Morgan Conradt, of Baltimore.
As a private in Company G, 13th Regiment, Frank G. Miller served for three months during 1862.
He was also connected with the volunteer fire department, and for si.\ years served as treasurer of engine
company No. 22, whose head(iuariers were in Degraw street. He was born in Brooklyn on March 19, 1841,
at 17 Strong place, a home which his family had occupied for fifty-sLx years. His father, William J. Miller,
was born in New London in 1S09, and was a direct descendant of those old Puritan governors, John Win-
throp and Saltonstall ; his mother was the eldest daughter of the late Jeremiah H. Taylor, who during the
middle of the present century held considerable real estate in South Brooklyn. In 1865 he married Miss
Bessie Gilchrist. He is a charter member of Covenant Lodge, F. & A. M., and for the past twenty years
has been treasurer of the Lodge,
Francis E. Dodge joined the City Guard in 1864. He was born in this city on March 3, 1841, and '
was educated at a private school. He is treasurer of the Long Island College Hospital and the New York
Port Society, a director of the Academy of Music and of the Brooklyn Riding and Driving Club and a
member of the Crescent Athletic, Hamilton and Montauk clubs.
Howard A. Porter was a member of Company G, 13th Regiment, during its three months of serv'ice
THE NATIONAL GUARD. 841
at Annapolis and Baltimore in 1861, having joined the company in April of that year. That ended his
active service, but he is a member of the veteran association of the Brooklyn City Guard. West Hartford,
Conn., is his native place and he is the son of Dr. Henry B. Porter, who was a prominent physician of New
Haven. He was born on November 7, 1831, and studied at the New Haven public schools until 1846. In
1852 he came to New York and was employed in the wholesale grocery business until he went south as a
soldier. Some time after the conclusion of the war he was appointed to a position in the sub-treasury, in
New York, where he is now employed.
Wheaton B. Despard enlisted in Company G, 23d Regiment, in June, 1S75. In September, 1880, he
was made commissary sergeant, a post which he still occupies. He was born in New York on November
2Si 1855- His father was Arthur W. Despard, who is conspicuous as the first drug broker who ever conducted
business in New York. The son was educated at a private school on Staten Island and afterwards at Hell-
muth College, near the city of London, Ontario. He is recording secretary of the E.xcelsior Club and a
member of the Crescent Athletic Club.
James B. Bach is a prominent grand army man, and has been honored with high office in Lafayette
Post, of New York, in which he is enrolled as a member. He joined the City Guard in 1S59, and was
elected first lieutenant of Company H, 13th Regiment, in which capacity he accompanied the regiment to
Virginia in 1862, on what was known as the Suffolk campaign ; and in 1863 he commanded the company in
the Gettysburg campaign. He was born in Brooklyn, on June 4, 1836, and began his business life as a clerk
in a banking house. In 1865, he began business on his own account as a broker, and in 1867 he became one
of the firm of Smith, Gould, Martin & Co., which firm was succeeded by Willard, Martin & Bach and then
by Joslyn, Bach & Co. In the firm first named Jay Gould was a general partner and Mr. Bach was the
"Company ;" in the other firms Jay Gould was the special partner. Mr. Bach remained in the firm of Jos-
lyn, Bach & Co. until it dissolved in 1885, when he engaged in business on his own account once more and
was interested in various enterprises until he accepted his present position of secretary of the Western Im-
provement Company. He married Mary E. Gardiner, daughter of W. G. Gardiner. He is an honorary
member of the Excelsior Club.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
LUB life is one of the tilings in wiiich Broolclyn lias expanded mightily dur-
ing the past few years. Ten years ago the clubs could have been counted
on the fingers of one hand, while to-day there are at least a dozen important
organizations, housed in structures rivaling those in any other city and
numbering on their membership rolls thousands of names. Besides these
notable examples there are many other similar organizations of lesser size
but of almost equal importance. Club life here is different from that of
New York, just as Brooklyn is different from her sister city in almost every
respect; there it is an end, while here it is an adjunct to the domestic life.
In New York a club man, in the distinctive sense of the term, is usually a
bachelor to whom the club practically means home ; if he be not a bachelor,
the bachelor instincts are predominant in him and the home instincts of
decidedly lesser significance. The great number of Brooklyn's club men
are of an entirely different stamp. They may have the club instinct, but the
home instinct is so much greater that it invades and permeates the club atmosphere. Naturally there are
exceptions to this rule. For instance, the Brooklyn and Excelsior clubs are essentially bachelor clubs and
approach, more nearly than any others in the city, the New York idea. In these two there are undoubtedly
more men who look upon them as the chief social factors of. their existence than can be found elsewhere.
Of the two the Excelsior probably conies nearer to the general idea of what a man's club should be. But
generally speaking there is a growing tendency among the Brooklyn clubs to encourage the partici-
pation of women in their affairs. Scarcely a club now closes its doors to members of the gentler sex
and almost every one has found it of advantage to admit them to certain privileges. The Hamilton, the
Hanover, the Montauk, the Union League, and the Crescent, at its country house, all have dining rooms
for ladies, and a number of these admit them to the privilege of the bowling alleys. From its very nature
the Riding and Driving Club is largely dependent upon the ladies, and unless the signs of the times are
misleading, the day is not far distant when women will have an emphatic voice in the management of the
clubs on this side of the river. When this shall come to pass it will eradicate the last vestige of the vener-
able prejudice growing out of a belief that the club is the rival of the home, and the honor of having estab-
lished an almost ideal condition will belong to the clubs of Brooklyn.
HAMILTON CLUB.
One of the most important societies in the early history of the city was the Young Men's Literary
Association of Brooklyn, organized on November 2, 1830, by the "young men of the village of Brooklyn."
In those days Alexander Hamilton was the ideal of young men in America, and in his honor the name of
the society was changed in October, 1831, to the Hamilton Literary Association of Brooklyn. Among the
early members were Edgar J. Bartow, George ^V. Dow, Horace H. Dow, Josiah C. Dow, Richard C. Dow,
John Tasker Howard, Joseph Howard, John Jewett, Jr., William Jones, Jr., Thomas G. King, Abiel A. Low,
Henry C. Murphy, Israel AVard Raymond, John H. Raymond, Francis P. Sanford, D. N. Schoonmaker,
Henry Silliman, Alden J. Spooner and Robert Tucker. Henry C. Murphy framed the constitution and
was the first president. The first lecture course ever given in the city was inaugurated by this associ-
ation, which flourished for half a century. The succession of membership was kept up by a younger gener-
ation, as the original members passed beyond the years of activit)^ and the social quality of the association
was maintained at a high level ; so that when, in 1880, the project of a new club was discussed, the old
Hamilton Literary Association furnished the most desirable material for a nucleus, and its spirit was
preserved in the Hamilton Club, which was organized by ninety-two members of the old association and was
incorporated in May, 1S82, the first board of officers including Samuel McLean, president; D. H. Cochran,
vice-president; A. A, Abbott, secretary ; and Tasker Marvin, treasurer. Temporary quarters were found
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
843
for the club on the corner of Clinton and Joralemon streets, and the project of a new club house suited
to the needs of the club was at once mooted. In 1S84 the building on the corner of Clinton and Remsen
streets was erected at a cost of over $100,000. The home of the club is in the modern Italian style, and
furnishes commodious parlors, library, art gallery, dining rooms, private and main billiard room, smoking
rooms, card rooms, and bowling alley. The club inherited the fine library of the old Hamilton Literary
Association, to which constant additions have been made ; and the art gallery contains some of the finest
art works m this city. Among these is an elegant Sevres vase presented by the French government in
recognition of the hospitable reception by the club of the sculptor Bartholdi and his fellow delegates.
Another noteworthy feature in the collection is Huntington's large painting, "The Republican Court," pur-
chased at the sale of the late A. T. Stewart's pictures. The chief artistic project of the club at the present
Thk Hamilton Clup, Remsen and Clinton Streets.
time is the erection of a bronze statue of Alexander Hamilton from the hand of William Ordway Partridge,
a Brooklynite born in Paris. A plaster model of the statue is at this writing in the library of the club, and
the bronze itself will soon be in position in the court-yard of the club house. Mr. Partridge received his
schooling in Brooklyn but obtained his art education in Europe. The club is literary as well as artistic
in its tastes and has a library of 2,200 volumes, to which additions are constantly being made by gift and
purchase. The membership in the Hamilton is rapidly approaching the limit, and the early prospect of
a waiting list is already having its effect on the desirability of this club, which has from the beginning
attracted many of the most eligible club men in the city. The officers of the club, elected in April, 1892,
are : George M. Olcott, president ; J. Spencer Turner, vice-president ; I. Sherwood Coffin, secretary ; James
McKeen, treasurer.
George M. Olcott, besides being president of the Hamilton Club, is a highly esteemed member of the
Crescent, Montauk and the Riding and Driving clubs. He was for many years a trustee of the Brooklyn
Institute and occupies the same official position with regard to its successor, the Brooklyn Institute of Arts
and Sciences. He is politically independent, although he is classified as a Republican and usually votes that
ticket. He was born in Brooklyn on August 25, 1835, and for more than twenty years has made his home
in Grace Court. He is president of the Phoeni.N; Chemical Works, formerly located at the foot of Fifty-ninth
street, Brooklyn. Since 1856 he has been engaged in the importing drug business, beginning in the employ
of Richard J. Dodge and John Colville, who were known as Dodge & Colville. The firm later became
844
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
George M. Olcott.
Dodge, Colville & Olcott and is now known as Dodge & Olcott, with headquarters in New York. Mr. Ol-
cott is at the present time the senior member of the firm. He is engaged in various other enterprises and
is a trustee of the Bowery Savings Bank, the Franklin Trust Company and the Franklin Safe Deposit Com-
pany; a director of the Market and Fulton National Bank, and the Lloyds Plate Glass Insurance Company.
He is as popular among the club men of New York as he is in Brooklyn, being a member of The Players', .
the Down Town and the Fulton clubs. He is married, has three children and the same number of grand-
children. He occasionally participates in out-door sports, of which he is a great admirer.
In the days of America's maritime supremacy, so far as fast ships were concerned, few men contributed
more directly to the fostering of this particular branch of enterprise than the firm of A. A. Low & Brothers,
of which JosiAH O. Low was a member. Since his retirement from active life he has in various ways been
prominent in the community. The son of Seth and Mary Porter Low, he was born in Salem, Mass., on
March 15, 1S21. With several of his brothers he was educated in the English and classical school kept by
Messrs. Fames and Putnam. He began business as a clerk in 1836. Li 1845 he became a partner with his
brother, A. A. Low, under the firm name of A. A. Low & Brother. He married Martha Elizabeth Mills,
daughter of Thomas Helme and Martha Smith Mills. He is a member of the Unitarian denomination and
was repeatedly trustee in the Church of the Saviour during the pastorates of Drs. Farley and Putnam. He
was one of the organizers of the Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute in 1853 and is a trustee of its suc-
cessor, the Polytechnic Institute. He was one of the first board of directors of the Children's Aid Society,
and was one of the early subscribers to the Academy of Music stock list ; he is one of the directors of the
corporation. A large portion of his time in later years has been spent at his summer residence at Newport,
R. I. He is a trustee of the Brooklyn Trust Company and has been connected with the Down Town Club
in New York and the' Brooklyn Club.
During a residence in Brooklyn of a quarter of a century Charles Albert Hoyt has lent his influ-
ence freely to those objects which naturally appeal to a man who possesses the advantages conferred
by education and fortune. He is a member of the New England Society of New York, the Society of the
Sons of the Revolution and the Long Island Historical Society; a trustee of St. Charles Borromeo's Church,
on Sidney place, and vice-president of St. Vincent's Home for Newsboys. He was born in Burlington, Vt.,
m 1839. His father's ancestors had settled in New England with the earliest colonists in the seventeenth
century. Some of them distinguished themselves in revolutionary days and a branch of the family found a
foothold among the hills of New Hampshire, where Mr. Hoyt's grandfather, who was a friend of William
Lloyd Garrison, was on several occasions the Free Soil candidate for governor of the state; he was elected
to the state legislature to represent his native town no less than fifteen times, and was elected several
times to the state senate and the governor's council. Mr. Hoyt's mother was one of the Deming family ;
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCL\L LIFE.
845
her grandfather was killed in the battle of Bennington, and was one of the five brothers who fought under
General Stark in that battle. Another maternal ancestor was a captain in the American army, and by ser-
vice in the revolutionary war earned the distinction of becoming one of the original members of the Order
of the Cincinnati. Mr. Hoyt is the son of the Rev. William Henry Hoyt. He was educated at the Univer-
sity of Vermont and at the Georgetown College, D. C, from both of which he was graduated with the degrees
of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. For a time he assisted his father in newspaper work in Burling-
ton, and in 1857 he came to New York. Early in the sixties he engaged in the rubber trade as an employee
of the firm of Poppenhusen & Konig, which controlled the Goodyear hard rubber patents. He acquired a
Charles A. Hoyt.
partnership in the business about twenty years ago, after having reached some time previously the positions
he still occupies as treasurer of the India Rubber Comb Company and of the Goodyear Hard Rubber Com-
pany. He became a resident of Brooklyn in 1867, and has lived in the first ward ever since. His home
is at 15 Pierrepont street. He is a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, a life member of the
New York Press Club, a director and one of the founders of the German-American Insurance Company and
a trustee in the Brooklyn Homoepathic Hospital. In 1S62 he married Miss Julia Sherman, who traces her
ancestry to the Pilgrim fathers. One son, who is now in business in Denver, is their only child.
In the record of Brooklyn enterprise Henry Harper Benedict figures prominently. He was born on
October 9, 1844, in Herkimer County, N. Y. His grandfather, Elias Benedict, was one of the pioneers who
left Connecticut in the last century and created new homes for themselves in New York state. His father,
Micaiah Benedict, born in 1801, was a public man of considerable note and was for many years one of the
justices of the peace for Herkimer County. yVfter being graduated, in 1865, from Eastman's Business Col-
lege at Poughkeepsie, Henry H. Benedict became a student at Hamilton College. While studying at that
institution and prior to his graduation in 1869, he occupied the chair of Latin and Mathematics at Fairfield
Seminary. After leaving Hamilton College he went to Ilion, N. Y., and was employed by E. Remington &
Sons. He remained with them thirteen years in the capacity of confidential secretary and director. In
1882 he aided in the organization of the firm of Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict, who purchased the entire
typewriter manufacturing plant owned by the Remingtons at Ilion and assumed the title of the Remington
Standard Typewriter Manufacturing Compan3^ In 1S92 the present company of Wyckoff, Seamans & Bene-
dict was incorporated and Mr. Benedict, who had been treasurer of the Standard Typewriter Manufactur-
ing Company, became secretary of the new corporation. On October 10, 1S67, he married Miss Maria
Nellis, daughter of a well-known resident of Fort Plain, N. Y. They have one child. In their home at 116
Willow street there is a magnificent collection of old line engravings and etchings, some of them by Rem-
brandt, and all products of the best European and American masters. Mr. Benedict has also a well-
selected library of rare and standard volumes, many of which, like his pictures, have been collected during
their owner's frequent travels in Europe. He is a member of the Republican Club, the Grolier Club and
the Delta Kappa Epsilon Society of New York, and the Hamilton Club and Long Island Historical Society
of Brooklyn. Until his resignation some time ago, he was a memlier of the art committee of the Union
League Club, He is a member of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York, but usually attends
divine worship at the Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn. He was one of the organizers of the First Presby-
terian Church at Ilion, and was for many years an elder, treasurer, trustee, member of the building com-
mittee and superintendent of the Sunday-school ; he is an ex-president of the Young Men's Christian Asso-
ciation of Ilion.
(]lub life in Brooklyn has no more active promoter than Willtam W. Rossiter, president of the Termi-
nal Wareliouse Company, of New York. He has served three years as one of the directors of the Hamilton
Club, assisted in the organization of the Montauk Club, of which he is a director ; he joined the Marine
and Field Club in the early period of its existence. During a membership of twenty years in the Memorial
Presbyterian Church he has given to it ten years of service as a trustee ; and when the beautiful church
edifice at Seventh avenue and St. John's place was built he rendered valuable assistance as a member of
the building committee. His philanthropic disposition has been manifested in a long and useful connection
with the Children's Aid Society, of which he has been a trustee more than twelve years and of which he has
been treasurer nine years. Born in this state in 184S, he has lived in Brooklyn since his boyhood and was
educated at the Polytechnic Institute. He began his business career in the house of Wallace & Wickes, in
New York city, and as a member of the firm of Rossiter & Skidmore he succeeded to its trade in 1872.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCLAL LIFE.
847
William \V. Rossitek.
Retiring from the firm in May, 1S91, lie devoted himself to the great inter-
est of which he is the present head. Among other business institutions
with which Mr. Rossiter is connected is the Brooklyn City Savings Bank
of which he was one of the originators and of which he is a trustee ; he
is also a member of the board of directors of the Corn Exchange Bank, of
New York city. He was identified with the state militia for fifteen years,
nine years of which period was given as a member of the 7th Regiment,
in which he rose to the rank of sergeant. For three years he was quarter-
master of the 23d Regiment and he served three years on the brigade
staff of General Beebe as captain and ordnance officer. His home is at 50
Seventh avenue.
The name of Budington has a place in Brooklyn chronicles, not only
because of the part played in the city's history by the Rev. William Ives
Budington, D. D., but also because of the prominence gained by his son,
William G. Budington, M. D., who, besides his professional distinction,
has a wide social popularity. From 1872 until 1881 he was a practic-
ing physician in Brooklyn, during which time he was, for one year,
a sanitary inspector attached to the health department, and, for a year and a half, he served the
Kings County Hospital as a resident physician, maintaining meantime a general practice in the city. He
was one of the first to join the Long Island Wheelmen and became known as an expert bicyclist ; he is a
member of the Atlantic Yacht Club. He was born in Boston, Mass., on October 29, 1845, and first became
a resident of Brooklyn in 1855, when his father accepted the call of the Clinton Avenue Congregational
Church. His preliminary education was gained at the Polytechnic Institute ; later he matriculated at Yale
College, and after being graduated there with the class of '65, he came to New York and pursued a course
of study at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which granted him his degree in 1872. He retired in
1881, and has spent most of the time since then in traveling. He is unmarried and for the past seven years
has had a residence in New York city. He maintains a keen interest in all athletic matters and is a
member of the New York Athletic Club.
Flaiien Ball Candler is a lawyer established in New York. He was born on December 16, 183S, in
Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was Samuel M. Candler, born in Marblehead, Mass., a descendant of a
well-known English family, and his mother, Elizabeth C. Ball, was a daughter of Flamen Ball, of New York
city. Mr. Candler obtained his education at what is now known as the New York College, read law with Bar-
rett & Brinsmead, and was admitted to the bar in i860. In 1864 he became a partner of Edgar S. Van
Winkle in New York, and the present title of the firm is Jay & Candler, Mr. Van Winkle having died in 1882
and Colonel William Jay having been a law partner of Mr. Candler since
1868. He has been a continuous resident of Brooklyn since i860. On
October 18, 1865, he married Marcia Lillian Welch, daughter of Captain
Robert W. Welch. They have two sons and one daughter living. The
eldest son, Robert W. Candler, is practicing law with his father. Mr.
Candler was a charter member of the Oxford Club, but resigned and
became a member of the Hamilton Club. He is a member of the Tuxedo
Club, of the Congregational Club, Brooklyn, and of the Down Town
Club, New York. From i860 until 1886 he was a member and an officer
of the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church, but is now a member, and
until recently has been a trustee, of the Church of the Pilgrims.
Edward B. Bartlett was born in Portland, Me., and is a son of
William and Mary (Crie) Bartlett, of whose eight children he was the
youngest. His father was engaged in the shipping business in that
state. His grandfather, John Bartlett, was in the active service of his
country as captain in the army, during the war of 18 12-15. The family
Flamen b. Candler. belongs to the American branch of an English line which is trace-
able back to the time of the Norman conquest. His parents having removed to Brooklyn when he was ten
years old, his education was received at its public schools and the Polytechnic Institute. He commenced
his business life with the old tea and coffee house of Sturges, Bennett & Co. After remaining with them
some years he entered the warehousing firm of C. L. & J. L. Colby, in Brooklyn, and subsequently
succeeded to their business under the firm name of E. B. Bartlett & Co. In 1SS8 most of the large ware-
houses and elevators on the Brooklyn water front were leased to the Empire Warehouse Company, Limited,
of which he was chosen president, in which position he remains. He is president of the Brooklyn Warehouse
and Storage Company and of the Columbian Whaleback Steamship Company, and a director in the People's
Ll)\V Vkl) ]>
Trust Company, the Southern National Bank, the United States and Brazil Mail Steamship Company and in
various other organizations, both business and social ; he is a member of the New Yorlv Chamber of Com-
merce, of the Produce, Cotton, Coffee and Maritime exchanges, of the Union League Club and the Down
Town Club, of New York, and of the Hamilton, the Montauk and the Riding and Driving clubs, of Brooklyn.
He has borne the part of a public-spirited citizen, and has given an active and liberal support not only to the
churches and charities of Brooklyn, but to every movement for the public welfare. In political affairs he
has always cooperated with the Republican party, but has never been willing to add to his other duties the
responsibilities of pLiblic office.
Robert D. Benedict, of the New York bar, was born at Burlington, Vt., on October 3, 1828. His father
was for many years a professor in the University of Vermont, where the son was educated and whence he
was graduated in 1848. After his graduation he came to Brooklyn, where he taught school two years, and
then entered the office, in New York city, of his uncle, Erastus C. Benedict, afterwards chancellor of the
University of the State. He was admitted to the bar in 185 i and has practiced law ever since. In 1854 he
married Miss Frances A. Weaver, of Colchester, Vt., and settled in Brooklyn, which he had left for a few
years after concluding his school teaching. He is well known to the legal profession as the editor of
" Benedict's Reports," in ten volumes, presenting the decisions of the United States district courts. His
law practice is largely in the admiralty court. From the foundation of the New York Times till the death
of Henry J. Raymond, its fcnmder, Mr. Benedict was connected with that newspaper as reporter of the United
States courts and as a writer of editorials. He was twenty years a member of Plymouth Church. For the
last eighteen years he has been a member and is a trustee of the Central Congregational Church. He was
president of the board of elections in Brooklyn several years after its creation, and was the last president
of the Republican League. F"or many years he has been a trustee of the Adelphi Academy in Brooklyn and
he is a director of the Lawyers' Surety Company, of New York, vice-president of the New England Society,
Brooklyn, and president of the Brooklyn Society of Vermonters and of the Congregational Club. He was
also a member of the Kings County Club, and of the Union League Club.
WiLMAM Peet was born at 165 William street. New York, on December 4, 1822. In 1828 his parents
removed to Brooklyn, and purchased and occupied the old homestead of David Codwise, at 184 Columbia
Heights. On his twenty-first birthday he began to prepare for college. He studied at Yale, where he was
graduated in 1847 ; and he has been secretary of his class almost ever since. He spent the first year after
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCL\L LIFE.
849
William Peet.
his graduation at the Yale law school, and then went to Utica, and
entered the office of Mattison & Doolittle, the latter of whom after-
wards became a justice of the supreme court. Among his associates
there was Roscoe Conkling. Mr. Peet was admitted to the bar on Novem-
ber 2, 1848, being a member of the first class subsequent to the adoption
of the code of practice. On April 19, 1849, he opened his first law office
on the corner of Wall and Pearl streets, New York, and has continued to
practice in that city ever since, his present firm being Bristow, Peet &:
Opdyke. In 1851 he married Miss Homans and removed to the Hill,
where he became successively vestryman of the Church of the Messiah
and of St. Peter's. In 1869 he removed to Rockland Count)', but he
returned in 1874 to the homestead on Columbia Heights, which he still
occupies. He was one of the organizers of the Atlantic Yacht Club, his
name being first on the list ; he also assisted in organizing the Hamilton
Club, and the Lawyers* Club, of New York.
Eugene W. Durkee, whose name stands first on the list of members
of the Hamilton Club, is prominent in a number of other social organi-
zations, having been connected with the Brooklyn Gun Club si.x years, the Manhattan Athletic Club
three years, the Crescent Club two years and the Union League Club of New York five years, besides
being a member of the Eastern Field Trial, Central Field Trial, New England Field Trial and Ameri-
can Kennel clubs. At Patchogue, L. I., he owns a farm of one hundred and fifty-si.x acres, upon which
are a beautiful residence, extensive stables, a half mile track and large kennels which are noted for the
prize winners they have produced. These things are simply the diversions of a very busy man, for he is
the head of a firm which conducts a long established and prosperous business ; he is senior partner in the
house of E. R. Durkee & Co., New York, manufacturers of and dealers in spices and grocers' sundries.
This firm was established in 1850 by his father, E. R. Durkee, and it operates mills in Brooklyn. Mr.
Durkee was born in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1850 and his parents moved to Brooklyn in 1851. His early studies
were prosecuted at Professor Overheiser's school and he completed his education at the University of
Geneva, in Switzerland, where he studied until 1S71, in which year his business experience began. He
married Miss E. F. Brigham, daughter of L. H. Brigham, of Brooklyn. She died twelve years ago.
Caiiden Crosby Dike was born in Providence,
R. I., on September 18, 1832, and is the son of Albyn
V. and Phoebe A. Dike. In February, 1849, when six-
teen years of age, he left his birthplace and came to
Brooklyn. His first home in this city was on Clark
street, the site now occupied by a portion of Oving-
ton's establishment; his early association with the
Heights engendered in him a certain love of that
locality which resulted in his becoming a permanent
resident of that section. His first occupation was in
the employ of Wilmerdings, Priest & Mount, auction-
eers. He next engaged in the wool business ; form-
ing with his brothers, Henry A. and James P. Dike,
the firm of Dike Brothers, who conducted a large for-
eign and domestic trade as wool commission merchants
and importers. At a later time he became senior part-
ner and ultimately retired from the firm, after being
closely and actively associated with its affairs for
thirty-six years. The two and a half years succeeding
his withdrawal from active business were devoted to
foreign travel, in which he was accompanied by his
family. After his return to America he interested
himself to a great extent in various financial and chari-
table institutions, with which his connection has since
been maintained and enlarged. He is a director and
was one of the organizers of the Kings County Bank
and the Hamilton Trust Company; is a trustee of the
South Brooklyn Savings Bank, the Homceopathic Hos-
pital and the Church of the Pilgrims ; a member of the
/a-**.^-^^^^^*^ ''^. .-<Cw^,
8so
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Laurentian Club and an organizer of the famous Apollo Club ; he is also a member of the New York Cham-
ber of Commerce. In social life and in charitable enterprises his duties are shared by his wife, whom he
married in 1S57, and who was formerly Miss Jeannie D. Scott, of Attica, a daughter of David and Maria
Scott, and a granddaughter of Major-General Phiiieas Stanton, a prominent actor in the war of 1812. Three
years after his marriage Mr. Dike built the handsome house now occupied by him at 194 Columbia Heights.
Norman Seymour Bentley was born at Sandy Creek, Oswego County, N. Y., on March 31, 1831. He
is the son of the late Elias Bentley, an esteemed citizen of Milton, Saratoga County, N. Y. ; his mother's
maiden name was Sarah Seymour. After studying at the public schools of his native place and at an
academical private school in Pulaski, he became a teacher at the age of fourteen and taught in 1845-6 at
Sandy Creek. In 1850, when nineteen years old, he entered the wholesale grocery trade in New York
city as a member of the firm of Gasper &: Co. Withdrawing from this firm in 1856, he took an interest
Norman S. Bentley.
in the wholesale grocery house of Gordon, Fellows & McMillan, to whose entire business, excluding the
liquor department, he succeeded in 1861, forming the house of Bentley & Burton, to which another partner
was admitted in 1867. The excellent promise of investments in land in Oregon was brought to his attention
about 1868 and he associated himself with Colonel T. Egenton Hogg of that state in acquiring landed
interests there, the enterprise giving birth to the Oregon Development Company, the Pacific Construction
Company, the Oregon Pacific Syndicate, the Oregon Pacific Railroad and several other large interests. He
has been a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce more than thirty years and takes especial
pride m what he regards as a public service which he was able to render on the special committee of that
body appointed to consider the matter of ordnance and harbor defence for the country. The preparation of
the report was entrusted to him, and after it had been unanimously adopted by the chamber and
warmly commended by the press, it received the most respectful attention of congress and was described
by the late Samuel J. Randall, chairman of the congressional committee on ways and means, as the chart
for appropriations in that year; its effect has been felt in congress ever since in connection with the
appropriations for defence. The result was especially beneficial to New York and Brooklyn. In politics
Mr. Bentley is an ardent Republican and was a member of the first Republican club ever organized in New
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCL\L LIFE.
851
York, the Fremont and Dayton Club, which was active in the Fremont campaign ; and he was a delegate
to the convention held in Saratoga which organized the Republican party in this state. He married on
February 4, 1858, Miss Emilie M. Wagner, second daughter of the late Daniel B. Wagner, then of Budd's
Lake, N. J. His home is at 271 Hicks street and he is a regular attendant at Grace P. E. Church; he
is an Episcopalian, but his life-long friendship for Mr. Beecher led him to attend Plymouth Church during
the early part of the famous preacher's ministry, and occasionally throughout Mr. Beecher's life. In
his own religious denomination he has been an effective worker, serving many years as vestryman of St.
John's Church; he was afterwards a communicant of the Church of the Redeemer several years and then
he went to All Saints Church, where he was superintendent of the Sunday-school. He has been many years
prominently identified with the Y. M. C. A., of New York. Other organizations in which he holds member-
ship are the Hamilton, the Brooklyn, and the Apollo clubs, of Brooklyn, the Down Town Club, Metropolitan
Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History, the Board of Trade and Transportation, of New
York, and the American Geographical Society.
Abram B. B.wlis was born in Brooklyn in 1845. He was educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic
Institute and at Princeton, entering the former institution on the first day it opened and being graduated
in 1862. He went at once to Princeton and was graduated in 1866. Immediately after leaving college he
entered the office of his father, a prominent Wall street broker and the founder of the present commission
firm of Baylis & Co. Upon the death of his father he succeeded to his interests and became the senior
member of the firm. He is vice president of the Brooklyn Trust Company and a director in the Mechanics'
Bank and the old Brooklyn Savings Bank. He is a prominent figure in Brooklyn's social life and is a mem-
ber of the Hamilton, Crescent Athletic and Brooklyn Riding and Driving clubs.
Among Brooklynites there are none who have contributed more to the multiplication of useful appli-
ances than George W. Demond, who, after many years of successful business life, is now enjoying the
ease deserved by long continued industry and enterprise. He has taken out many patents, all of them
on valuable devices, and he is enrolled as a life member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics'
Association. He is of French extraction, and his name in its original form was Dumaine, of which its pres-
ent form is a corruption. His grandfather emigrated to America from France at the time of the French
revolution, and from New York went to Trois Rivieres, Canada. He had married a lady whose family was
from Holland ; she had one son, who was born in Montreal in October, 1794. This son, who was the father
of George W. Demond, served with the Montreal Voltigeurs in the British army during the war of 1812,
and was wounded and taken prisoner by the Americans, who took him to Albany, N. Y., where he utilized his
trade of tin and coppersmith by applying it to the production of tin cups for the American soldiers. He
married about 1814, and in 1830 returned to Canada,
where George AV. Demond, his fourth son, was born at • ■■ ,,,„»„,,„-,-., ,.„,....., .,,
St. John's on January 22, 1S3 1. George was educated
in Plattsburg and Champlain, N. Y., where his father
spent the closing portion of his life, and after leav-
ing the Champlain Academy he was engaged with his
father in the manufacture of tinware. He organized
the Massachusetts Steam Heating Company in 1856,
and introduced the first low pressure heating appara-
tus under the Gold patent in connection with James
J. Walworth & Co. He was also engaged in the
furnace and stove business as one of the firm of
Demond, Perry & Fenn, which was succeeded by
Demond & Fenn. During the civil war he fitted out
several men at his own e.xpense for service in the Union
army. After fifteen years of business in Boston he
came to New York in 1865, and in the year following
he organized the American Ventilating Company of
New York, introducing patent ventilators of his own
invention and making use of the Griffith ventilators,
the rights in which he had acquired by purchase. He
was treasurer and vice-president of the company until
1886, when it dissolved by limitation. He formed with
George M. Pullman and others the Chicago Ventilator
Company. He has been a resident of Brooklyn since
1865, and has taken an active interest in local affairs.
He is a member of the Nineteenth Ward Republican
.,^*J
George W. Demond.
3s=
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Association and a life member of tlie Amphion Musical Society. He practically retired from active busi-
ness in 1884. With his family he attends the First Reformed Church, in which he holds the office of treasurer.
Herman Behr was born in Hamburg, Germany, on March 4, 1S47, His father, immediately upon
arriving in America, came to live in Brooklyn, and was for many years a prominent hardware merchant.
Young Behr left school at the age of si.xteen to work in his father's factory, remaining there until the
latter's death, which occurred in 1S65. He then engaged in the manufacture of skates on his own account,
but did not make any very great success of his venture, and accordingly relinquished it to accept a position
with a down-town business house in New York city. In 1872 he began his present business — that of the
manufacture of sand and garnet paper — in which he has been more than ordinarily successful. His resi-
dence at Pierrepont and Henry streets was designed and constructed under the direction of architect
Frank Freeman. It is constructed of Scotch sandstone and Belleville brownstone, with facing of terra-
cotta brick. The entrance is by a double raised stoop, on each side of which are bay windows with
opalescent stained glass. The entrance hall is an apartment of artistic beauty and design ; its main feature
is a kind of raised ingle-nook or alcove, in which is an open fireplace of Scotch sandstone. The design is
antique, the andirons and mantel being in perfect keeping. To the right upon entering is the drawing
room, e.xtending two-thirds of the entire depth of the house. This room is finished in polished mahogany,
unlike the hall, which is of oak, while the ceiling, divided into panels, is decorated in white and gold. An
open fireplace occupies a position near the bay window on one side. The dining room is situated in the
rear of the drawing room, from which it is separated by sliding doors. It is finished with oak and has an
open fireplace of red Numidian marble with artistically designed andirons and a mante' of carved oak.
The library, which is in the rear, directly facing the front entrance, is finished in cherry, with book cases of
the same wood. The ceiling is dome-shaped, decorated in white and gold — the latter predominating. Mr.
Behr is a prominent member of the Germania Club, of which he has been the president ; and to his efforts
while serving on the building committee of that organization much is due. He is a member of the Ger-
man Club of New York, and of the Hamilton, Crescent, and Rembrandt clubs of this city.
From a New England ancestry that may be traced to an honorable source in old England, George J.
Laighton inherited those qualities of industry, honesty and thrift that can always be discerned in the char-
acter of successful business men. He has lived in Brooklyn nearly thirty years and enjoys a full degree of
popularity as a citizen. He is a life member of the New England Society and a trustee of the Homoeo-
pathic Hospital. He is engaged in the manufacture of hardware and has headquarters at 45 Chambers
street, New York. He acquired his first knowledge of the business in a store in Portsmouth, N. H., in
which city he was born on March 27, 1S46, and where he was graduated at the high school when fifteen
years old. He came to Brooklyn in 1863, and obtained
.-,,-„^.^, .,.,.-„.,:,.,,.,„ employment in the New York house of the Russell &
Erwin Manufacturing Company, of New Britain, Conn.,
and he is now a director and associate manager of the
New York branch of that company, having become a
member of the company in 1867.
Samuel J. Cawley was born in Philadelphia in
1850. Like the majority of Philadelphians of that time
he was of Quaker parentage. For some time he at-
tended the New York grammar schools and free
academy and later the Philadelphia high school. In
i860 he began his mercantile career with William A.
Drown & Company, of Philadelphia. Four years later
he came to New York to become a member of the
firm of George J. Byrd & Company. He became a
nember of the present umbrella manufacturing firm of
Heiter, Glen & Cawley in 18S8. He married Miss
Mary Brice, of Philadelphia, the daughter of William
]jrice,a former president of the Commercial E.xchange
of Philadelphia, and one of the building commission-
ers of that city. He moved to Brooklyn in 1876, since
which year he has been thoroughly identified with the
social life of the city, being a member of the Hamilton
and O.xford clubs here and a member of the Man-
hattan Athletic Club, in New York. He takes an
interest in the government of his adopted city, but
is in no respect a politician or an office seeker.
Samuki. J. Cawley.
^
S54
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
William Satterlee Packer Prentice, who was born at i Grace court in 1852, is a great-grandson
of Major Nathaniel Sarteli Prentice, who was captain of the third company, i6th Regiment, New Hampshire
militia, under Colonel Bellows, and subsequently was elected major in Colonel Nahum Baldwin's regiment
(the 2d New Hampshire), but did not serve ; in 1775 he was a member of the New Hampshire provin-
cial congress. Mr. Prentice was educated at the Polytechnic Institute, and engaged in business on Wall
street in 1872. He remained there seven years, when he became manager of his father's extensive interests
at the Prentice stores in this city. In 1881 he returned to Wall street, and joined the firm of W. C. Sheldon
& Co. He married Miss Ella Crawford Sheldon in 1S80, and their home is at 44 Remsen street. He is a
member of the Ihpetongaand Crescent Athletic clubs, Brooklyn, the Down Town Club and the New Eno-land
Society, of New York, and the Parmachenee Fishing and Game Club, of Maine. He is a director in the
Brooklyn Riding and Driving Clul), and a member of the Society of Sons of the Revolution. He is an
enthusiastic sportsman and is devoted to the pleasures derivable from rod and gun.
Charles Curie, of the law firm of Curie, Smith & Mackie, of New York, has been ten years a well-
known and highly-esteemed citizen of Brooklyn. He was born near Montbeliard, Department du Doubs
France, in 1842, and coming to America with his parents in 1844 resided first in Paterson, N. J. In 1859
he entered into the service of the importing house of Ad. Koop & Sattler, New York, where he remained
attending to the custom house business of the firm, until the beginning of the civil war. On April in,
1S61, he enlisted in the Hawkins Zouaves, 9th New York Volunteers. In the charge of his regiment on
Fort Defiance, Roanoke Island, he was the first to reach the works and to wave the flag of the gth Regi-
ment over them, alth(jugh then he was a private soldier and but little over nineteen years of age. He was
wounded in the charge of his regiment on the Confederate batteries at Antietam, and was furloughed and
subsequently promoted to lieutenant in the 2d Battalion, Hawkins Zouaves. He was in General A. J.
Smith's command in the Red River campaign, was appointed acting ordnance officer of the brigade and
later of the division, and continued in A. J. Smith's and Joseph A. Mower's commands in their campaigns
in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Missouri. He was promoted to the rank of captain in May, 1S64.
His last campaign e.xtended from the Mississippi river to the Little Big Blue river, near Kansas, where
Price's forces were run down and forced to fight, capitulate, or scatter. During the march back to the
Mississippi with orders to join General Thomas at Nashville, Tenn., he took cold and gave out while in
command of his company when about half way back, was sent to Jefferson barracks hospital, and on
December 16, 1864, was honorably discharged from the service on account of disability. He had sufii-
ciently recovered by January i, 1866, to return to his vocation of custom house clerk for his old firm, where
he remained until January i, 1868, when he began a custom house brokerage business with Julius Binge,
of New York, under the firm name of Binge & Curie.
r ~" He removed from Paterson to Brooklyn and was ad-
■ mitted to the bar of this state in 1SS2. He had had
i an extensive experience in custom house matters, and
systematically compiled all the decisions of the United
States supreme court on custom house duties, etc., from
the beginning of the government, and when the act of
1883 was passed, the first general tariff act since the
passage of the revised statutes in 1874, his readiness
in deciding questions under it and his willingness to
back his opinion by prosecuting the cases upon a con-
tingent fee, brought him all the work he could attend
to in a short time. Many tariff questions have been
successfully litigated by Mr. Curie in the interest of
importers, and his clientage includes the most promi-
nent importing houses in New York. Until the pas-
sage of the McKinley tariff bill, Mr. Curie was alone in
tii^^H^^^Bk Wf^^^^^^K- '^'^ practice, but after that the firm of Curie, Smith &
Mackie was organized in New York. He occupies the
old homestead of N. P. Willis, "Idlewild," Cornwall-
on-Hudson, from Friday to Tuesday, and the remain-
der of the week he is in Brooklyn. He is a member
of Ivanhoe Lodge, F. & A. M., of Farragut Post, G. A.
R., of Paterson, N. J., an honorary member of E. A.
Kimball Post, of New York city, and a member of the
New York commandery of the Military Order of the
Loyal Legion of New York. In Brooklyn he is a
Charles Cukie.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCL\L LIFE. 855
member of the Hamilton, Lincoln, and Riding and Driving clubs, and the society of the officers of the
New Jersey Battalion at Yorktown. In 1870 he married Miss Jennie Andrews, daughter of James Andrews,
of Paterson, N. J. He is a pew-holder in the Central Congregational Church.
One of the most active business men in the sister cities is John Gibb, who at the same time is one of
the best known men in club circles in Brooklyn, where he resides. Besides his connection with the
Hamilton Club he is a member of the Brooklyn, O.xford, Crescent and Germania clubs. He was born in
Forfarshire, Scotland, in 1829, and came to America at the age of twenty-one. His first employment was
John Gibb.
in the large importing house of J. R. Jaffray & Co., where his industry and thorough fidelity to the interests
of his employers soon resulted in his advancement to responsible positions. At the end of fifteen years he
had saved enough to go into business on his own account, and in company with Philo L. Mills he founded
the New York firm of Mills & Gibb in 1865. In 1887 he acquired the controlling interest in the firm of
Frederick Loeser & Co., Brooklyn, the business of which since that time has been under the management of
himself and his son, Howard. He is a director in the Brooklyn Trust Company and a trustee of the
Adelphi Academy. In 1852 he married Miss Balston, of Brooklyn, who died in 1878; he contracted a
second marriage in 1882. His residence is at 218 Gates avenue.
Lewis Thurber Lazell is counted among the older members of the club. He is at the head of the
perfume manufacturing corporation known as Lazell, Dalley & Co., of New York. He began life at the age
of fourteen as a clerk in a book store ; three years later he engaged in the drug business at Worcester, Mass.
In 1885 he moved to New York and organized the firm of Lazell, Marsh & Hunn, one of his new associates,
Mr. Marsh, having once been a clerk in his employ. During the following decade the business flourished,
though the firm-name was several times changed. With the beginning of the year 1891 the firm discon-
tinued the manufacture of drugs and was reorganfzed upon its present basis. Mr. Lazell was born in
Bellingham, Mass., in 1825, and was educated at Worcester. His ancestors were French Huguenots, who
emigrated to America in 1636. In 1847 he married Miss Ellen Stone, of Worcester. Eleven years after his
marriage he moved to Brooklyn and now resides on Livingston street. He has been connected with the
First Baptist Church since 1858, and is president of its board of trustees.
Edward Henry Kellogg, who has been one of Brooklyn's representative citizens many years, is a
descendant of Asa Kellogg, of Springfield, Mass., who died about 1820. On the maternal side he is a
grandson of one of the patriots of the revolutionary period. Patriotism is an inherited trait in the Kellogg
family, also, for they are of Scotch extraction and their early ancestors were firm adherents of King James
the First, having left their own land to accompany that monarch to England. Mr. Kellogg was born in
Ira, Cayuga County, N. Y., on September i, 182S, and his boyhood was spent on his father's farm. He
studied at the Victory Academy until he was fourteen years old and ended his studies at Wenzer's Quaker
seminary, at Venice, Cayuga County, N. Y. At the age of si.\teen he went to Auburn, N. Y., to take a
clerkship in a store. From Auburn he went to Rochester, where he was engaged in a similar capacity, and
in 185 1 he moved to New York city. He made his home in Brooklyn and obtained a clerkship in a New
York commission house, the interests of which he served with such fidelity and success that he rose to a
partnership in the establishment. His thorough business methods were allied with far-seeing sagacity
and it is to him perhaps more than to any other individual the honor belongs of introducing the use of
petroleum for lubricating purposes. So great did the demand become that the firm found it necessary as
early as 1876 to establish a branch house in Liverpool, England, to facilitate its e.xport business. In addi-
tion to his present interest in the New York house he is actively connected with the Dime Savings Bank of
Brooklyn, of which he is vice-president and to the affairs of which he gives close attention, dividing his
business hours between his office in that institution and his office in New York. He is a member of the
Union League Club, the Importers' and Traders' Club, and the Down Town Association, of New York, and
of the Hamilton Club, of Brooklyn. In i860 he married Charlotte, daughter of Francis Fickett, one of the
old-time shipbuilders of New York. His residence is one of the handsomest on Columbia Heights.
WiLLi.\.M KuJMHEL Wilson is vice-president, secretary and one of the directors of the Snell Manufac-
turing Company, which manufactures tools for car and bridge building, and he has charge of the New York
st(jres. His business experience began in 1871, when he was given a clerkship in the wholesale hardware
jobbing house of Clark, Wilson & Co., a New York firm of which his father was a member. After several
years of clerkship he was admitted as a partner and later the firm was reorganized under the name of Bates,
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
857
William K. Wilson.
Wilson & Co., continuing until 1888, when it retired from the jobbing
trade and devoted itself to manufacturing. Mr. Wilson was born in 1848 ;
he attended school at Tarrytown, N. Y., and then at Englewood, N. J.,
subsequently attending St. Germain, a collegiate institute near Paris,
France, where he was graduated in 186S. James Clark Wilson, his father,
was the son of Dr. James Wilson, a distinguished New York physician
of revolutionary times. Mr. Wilson has been connected with the 7th
Regiment for the past twenty years. About the year 1875 he married
Miss Lizzie Lockwood, daughter of Major John B. Lockwood, an officer
in the Union army.
Since his arrival in the United States in 1874, George Gray Ward
has been a resident of Brooklyn and he is prominent in the Episcopal
church here as one of the vestrymen of St. Ann's. In addition to his
membership in the Hamilton Club he holds that relation to the Down
Town Club of New York. He was born in England in 1844 and was
educated at Cambridge. Telegraphy and electrical science interested
him at an early age and he was employed some time in the British govern-
ment's telegraphic service in Egypt. Subsequently he was on the steamship " Great Eastern " and assisted
in laying one of the Atlantic cables. After coming to America he was associated with Laurence Oliphant,
the author, who was connected with Atlantic telegraphy at that time; and later he organized the Com-
mercial Cable Company for Messrs. Mackay and Bennett. He contributed materially to the success of that
enterprise and is vice-president of the company. He is also a director in the Postal Telegraph Company
and the Brooklyn District Telegraph Company, and vice-president of the American Forcite Company.
The interests of trade brought Frederick W. Moss into active association with the commercial life of
the United States in 1865, ten years before he became a resident of the country. He was born in 1849 in
Sheffield, England, where he was educated at Sheffield College. In New York he represents the firm of
Moss & Gamble, of Sheffield, manufacturers of steel for tools. He is a member of the Hamilton, Rem-
brandt, and Riding and Driving clubs, and of the Long Island Historical Society, a life member of the St.
George Society and a trustee of the Children's Aid Society, the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities and the
Church of the Pilgrims. Until recently he was a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce. He
resides at 33 Remsen street.
John Askew Tucker is a member of the Quogue Field and the Great South Bay Yacht clubs as
well as of the Hamilton. He is a native of Brooklyn, having been born on Washington street in 1840.
Richard Sands Tucker was his father and his mother was Sarah Ann Carter, a daughter of Robert Carter.
He was a student at the Polytechnic Institute when that institution of learning was opened and in 1861 he
was graduated at Columbia College. As a member of the 7th Regiment he took part in the campaigning
of that command during the early years of the civil war. After his return from the south he became a
clerk with the firm of Tucker, Carter & Co., which eventually was incorporated under the state laws as the
Tucker & Carter Cordage Company. Its officers are : C. P. Marsh, president ; J. A. Tucker, treasurer ; E.
M. Johnson, secretary. Mr. Tucker is a director of the Leather Manufacturers' Bank of New York and is a
member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Maritime Exchange. He is one of the commissioners in
charge of improving the parks on Brooklyn Heights. In politics he is a Republican. For many years he
was one of the vestrymen of the Church of the Redeemer and at one time he was one of the wardens ; at
the present time he is a member of Grace Church on Brooklyn Heights. In 1866 he married Miss Jeannie
A. Parsons, in New York.
Henry Everston Nitchie is largely interested in one of the most prominent business enterprises of
Brooklyn, that of warehousing, being a member of the firm of E. B. Bartlett & Co., and a vice-president
and secretary of the Empire Warehouse Company, limited, both of which have their warehouses on the
Brooklyn water front. His office is in New York city, and his home is at 42 Lefferts place, Brooklyn. He
is a member of the Hamilton and Lincoln clubs, the Down Town Club, of New York, and the Shelter Island
Yacht Club. He was born in Brooklyn in 1848, and was educated at the Polytechnic Institute ; in 1862 he
obtained employment with Frothingham & Co.,drygoods commission merchants of New York, and remained
with them six or seven years ; he then went into the insurance brokerage business, which he continued until
1882. In that year he became a member of the firm of E. B. Bartlett & Co. On the maternal side he is allied
to New England people, his mother being a member of the Howard family, which came from Salem, Mass.,
to Brooklyn early in its history. He married Miss E. W. Duncklee in Brooklyn in 1872, and the family
attends the Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church, of which he is a member.
William Crawford Sheldon, Jr., is a great-grandson of Sergeant Job Sheldon, who in the war of the
revolution served in Colonel Olney's regiment of the Rhode Island line. He was born in Brooklyn and
8s8
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
lived in his native city until recently, when he moved to Bernardsville, N. J. His home in Brooklyn was on
Pierrepont street He is a member of the Hamilton Club, of Brooklyn, the University and Calumet clubs
and the Society of Sons of the Revolution, New York. All his business life has been devoted to banking
and he is one of the firm of William C. Sheldon & Co., New York. He was born in 1859 and was educated
at St Paul's School Concord, N. H., and Trinity College. In 18S4 he married Miss Bessie Benham.
Carll H De Silver, although a native of the west, has spent the greater portion of his life in this city,
where his activity in all social and charitable functions has placed him among the most prominent people.
He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1846, and coming here in 1859 received his education at the Poly-
Carll H. De Silver.
technic Institute. Soon after completing his studies he visited the Orient and spent five years in China, making
himself familiar with the commercial relations established between Hong Kong and other cities of the
celestial empire and the United States. Before attaining his twenty-first year he had traveled around the
globe. Upon returning to his native country he entered the field of stock speculation in Wall street, and
has since risen to eminence among those who have acquired fortunes in that exciting financial theatre. He
is vice-president of the Homoeopathic Hospital's board of trustees, vice-president of the Apollo Glee Club,
vice-president of the Rembrandt Club, a director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society, a trustee of the
Brooklyn Museum of Arts and Sciences, and a life member of the Hamilton and Brooklyn clubs. He is also
a member of the Crescent and Germania clubs. As an art connoisseur his reputation stands deservedly
high. Some of his pictures are described in the chapter on Literature and the Fine Arts. He has taken
some share in politics, and was chairman of the city convention which renominated A. C. Chapin for the
mayoralty in 1889. He is now one of the state commissioners of charities.
For more than thirty years Arthur Murphy has been a resident of Brooklyn, but his professional
career belongs rather to New York, where he has an excellent law practice. He was born on December 9,
1853, in New York city. He is of Scotch blood on his mother's side, and his father was of Irish birth. He was
educated at the public schools of New York and Brooklyn, and has studied in France, Germany and Scot-
land. He attended Columbia College Law School, and was graduated in 1874, being admitted to the bar in
the winter of that year, and at once commenced the practice of the law. His practice is confined more
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCL\L LIFE.
859
George E. Ide.
particularly to the mercantile and commercial branches,
embracing assignments, insolvency and bankruptcy
proceedings. He is secretary and treasurer of Snow,
Church & Co., a large collection corporation with
branches throughout the country. He is also director
in the New York and Chicago Chemical Company. He
lived in the fourth ward nearly twenty-eight years, and
for three years he was president of the Democratic
Association of that ward. On June 5, 1SS3, he married
Miss Florence K. Nokes, of Washington, D. C. He
resides at 392 Clinton street. He is active in church
work, and is secretary and trustee of the Second Pres-
byterian Church of Brooklyn. He is greatly inter-
ested in boating, sailing and fishing, and is fond of
reading. He is a member of the Franklin Literary
Society and the St. Patrick Society.
Men who while still in early life have won a posi-
tion of eminence in business circles are not plentiful
enough to render their success an event too usual for
comment. One of those whose energy has placed him
in a post of much responsibility is George E. Ide, who
was born in this city on May 10, i860. He was pre-
pared for college at the Polytechnic Institute, and was
graduated from Yale with the class of 1S81 ; while at
the great New Haven University he was a member
of the Scroll and Key and Phi Beta Kappa socie-
ties. After completing his education he passed eight years in the employ of Dominick & Dickerman, the
well-known firm of New York brokers. He then spent a short time with S. V. White & Co., and in May,
1890, became secretary of the Home Life Insurance Company. He was elected to the vice-presidency of
the company, a position which he now occupies. He is a member of the Hamilton Club and of the execu-
tive committee of the Brooklyn Civil Service Reform Association ; he is also a member of the Insurance
Club of New York.
Richard S. Barnes was born in Brooklyn on November 21, 1854. He is a son of the late Alfred S.
Barnes. He obtained his education successively at the Adelphi Academy, the Polytechnic Institute and at
Williston Seminar}^, East Hampton, Mass. In 1872 he made a tour of Europe and the picture galleries of
the old world inspired him, in later years, to gather about him numerous works of modern artists, until now
he possesses one of the finest private galleries in the city. He became a partner in the firm of A. S. Barnes
& Co. in I "^83, and upon the transfer of the school book department to the American Book Company
he remained with the old house in the management of its business. The firm of A. S. Barnes & Co.
dissolved in November, 1891, and in the incorporation that followed he was elected to the office of treasurer.
He is a director in the Kings County Bank, trustee of the Brooklyn Institute, treasurer of the Automatic
Fire Alarm Company, New York, and has been treasurer of the Congregational Club of Brooklyn since its
organization. In politics he is a Republican and has stood by the Young Republican Club since its forma-
tion. He joined the 23d Regiment in 1S79, served his term of enlistment, and was then instrumental in form-
ing the veteran association of Company D, of which he was president four successive years. He is a
member of the Hamilton, Riding and Driving, Rembrandt, and Marine and Field clubs, of Brooklyn, and
of the Down Town Club, in New York. He is also a trustee of the Brooklyn Hospital, the Union for
Christian Work and one of the auditors of the American Missionary Association. He has a summer house
at Washington, Conn.
On both sides of the East River Dick S. Ramsay has made his influence felt both in business and social
relations. He was one of the first fifty members of the Hamilton Club, an early member of the Carleton
and one of the few American members of the Germania. The Long Island Historical Society includes him
in its membership, he is a director of the Long Island Free Library, a life member of the Seney Hospital,
past master of Orion Lodge, 717, F. & A. M., and a contributor to various charitable organizations. He is
one of the trustees of the Kings County Trust Company. In New York he is a director of the Hide and
Leather Bank, a trustee of the East River Savings Bank, managing director and treasurer of the Ely-Ramsay
Company, director and treasurer of the Stove Manufacturers' Supply and Repair Association, member of
the New York Chamber of Commerce, the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, the Consolidated
Stock and Petroleum Exchange, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, His continuance in office as the
86o
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Dick S. Ramsay.
president of the New York Local Stove Manufacturers'
Association and liis election to the vice-presidency
of the National Stove Manufacturers' Association, are
indications of the esteem in which he is held among
his business associates. He was a member of the firm
of Ely & Ramsay, of New York, until 1890 when the
firm became an incorporated company. In iSSo a con-
flagration swept away Ely & Ramsay's factory, leav-
ing them absolutely nothing except the firm's reputa-
tion for enterprise and integrity. But within a few
months they had purchased and equipped a factory
at Peekskill and began what has continued to be a
career of decided prosperity. Mr. Ramsay was born
in Columbus, Ky., on August 9, 1S46. His home was
among the first to receive the invasion of the Confeder-
ate and then of the LTnion army. They destroyed every-
thing, leaving his widowed mother and four boys, of
whom he was the eldest, entirely without means. He
decided to try his fortune in the north and in 1862
went to Chicago, where he obtained a clerkship in a
wholesale drug house. The war period was one of
speculation and with his first earnings he began specu-
lating, and continued it with such success that in 1866
he left Chicago with a fortune. He visited New York,
intending to go to Europe, but was induced to visit
Wall street. Within six months every dollar he had
was lost. He at once engaged in soliciting insurance and continued this until 1869, when he put his savmgs
into the stock of a manufacturing company and again lost all. Not discouraged, he essayed business again,
associating himself in 1870 with N. L. Ely. A small retail stove store was opened and from that beginning
their present business has grown.
EXCELSIOR CLUB.
In its origin the Excelsior Club is one of the oldest in Brooklyn, and its history has been continuous,
although its character has essentially changed. It was organized as the Excelsior Base Ball Club on Decem-
ber 8, 1854, and while its name indicated the special object for which it came into existence the social ele-
ment, which afterwards became dominant in the organization, had its recognized place. The club was incor-
porated under its original name in 1874. About that time, or soon after, its activity in athletic sports ceased
and it became a purely social club, dropping the words " base ball " from its name in 1S78. While the mem-
bership is comparatively small, it includes some of the best known club men in the city, and is largely made
up of the younger men. There is a degree of social intercourse among the members that is peculiar to this
one club, and it has been said that it resembles, socially, a college society more than it does the ordinary type
of organizations of its class. Its house, at 133 Clinton street, corner of Livingston, is large enough for its
purposes, and is attractively furnished and decorated. The officers are : George W. Chauncey, president ;
Harry C. Duval, vice-president; F. S. Little, recording secretary ; J. E. Lawrence, corresponding secretary ;
J. Lloyd Hall, treasurer.
GERMANIA CLUB.
Among the larger and better known clubs of Brooklyn, the Germania is entitled to rank among the first
in point of age. The late Dr. Arming, a physician of considerable prominence, who lived near the corner
of State and Court streets more than thirty years ago, was largely instrumental in forming the club on a
basis that practically made it a distinctively German organization. The Germania was organized in 1859.
Besides Dr. Arming the list of members at that time included James Eschwege, K. E. Kahl, Frank Gross,
A. Graef, Adolph Kraft, Charles Graef, J. C. Tidden, J. H. Lau and Fred. Hornbostel. The first club rooms
were in a building which stood on the northwest corner of Clinton street and Atlantic avenue, on the site
now occupied by the Fougera apartment house. When its needs had been increased by gradual accessions
of membership the organization moved, in 1865, to a house at 164 Atlantic avenue. The club's history for
the next twenty years was one of peaceful prosperity. It embraced, by degrees, the best German element
in Brooklyn until its list of members reached the limit of three hundred. In 18S8 a movement was inaug-
urated to raise funds for the erection of a new club house. A suitable site was purchased on Schermerhorn
street, just below the corner of Smith street, and preparations for building the proposed edifice began in the
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
86i
early part of 1890. The opening reception was held in October of the same year and on that occasion Mayor
Chapin and other prominent city officials were present. As a specimen of Romanesque architecture the
building IS unsurpassed by any other structure in Brooklyn. It is four stories in height, built of light' col-
ored brick, terra-cotta and brownstone. The front on Schermerhorn street is ninety feet in width The
basement is built of rough hewn brownstone. A flight of stone steps, converging towards the top, leads to
a wide arched doorway, supported by four finely carved pillars of red sandstone, with Corinthian foliage and
floral designs in terra-cotta. To the right of the entrance the building is flanked by a huge circular tower,
rising from the basement to a point just above the fourth story, where it terminates in a conical roof. There
Germania Clui; House, .Schermerhorn Street.
are four rows of arched and mullioned windows in the tower, with panes of bent glass. On the opposite
side of the building, between the first and second stories, a wide bay window projects outward for some dis-
tance, its roof forming a balcony of considerable dimensions, enclosed by rails of dark brownstone. The
features of this window are two panes of bent glass, eight by ten feet in size, which are said to be the largest
of their kind in this country. Above the arch of the doorway four pilasters, faced with terra-cotta flower
and basket work, and capped with elaborately carved brownstone copings, extend to the full height of the
building, terminating at either corner of the gable. At every suitable space on the front of the club house
there is an abundance of delicated carvings and moulding, while each of the windows is supported on sheaves
of slender columns, crowned with richly foliated capitals. The wide and massively paneled oak doors open
into a vestibule, which leads to a hallway of fair proportions, in the rear of which rises a wide staircase,
with newels and balustrades of white oak. To the left of the stairway is the main reception room, an apart-
ment one hundred by forty feet in size, with a vaulted ceiling, twenty-five feet high, supported on a double
row of massive Corinthian columns. On the opposite side of the hallway is the ladies' reception room,
library, reading and writing room, with servants' apartments in the rear. In the basement are the bowling
alleys. Between the first and second stories is a mezzanine floor with a large reading room, private apart-
ments for dinner parties, hat and cloak rooms and a cafe. On the second floor the grand dining hall, with
paneled wainscoting of white oak and a high vaulted ceiling with groined arches, occupies one entire side
of the building. The other apartments on this floor are for the use of the employees. There is also
862
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
in this Story a mezzanine floor, containing the superintendent's office, cloak, dressing and bath rooms. The
third floor is occupied by ladies' parlors, waiting and toilet rooms and an extensive kitchen. The fourth
story is devoted to a ball-room and theatre having an auditorium one hundred feet long and sixty-four feet
wide capable of seating a thousand people. A gallery encircles this entire apartment, which has a stage
twenty-eight feet deep, and si.vty feet wide at the footlights. The theatre has, on a small scale, all the
accessory apartments usually found at a place of public amusement. Including the furnishing, the club
house co'st $140,000. It was erected under the supervision of a building committee headed by ex-Mayor
Frederick A Sc'hroeder, associated in his work with Gustav Schimmel, Carl Goepel, P. Lichtenstein, H, B.
Brooklyn Clue House, Pierrepont and Clinton Streets.
Scharmann, Herman Behr and C. F. Erhart. The ofhcers of the club are : C. Kirchoff, president ; L. Hein-
sheim, vice-president ; U. Palmedo, treasurer ; Alfred Lichtenstein, secretary.
BROOKLYN CLUB.
Toward the close of 1864, or early in 1865, Dr. A. Cook Hull, a prominent homoeopathic physician in
Brooklyn, proposed to John Winslow that they, together with a dozen other gentlemen, should rent a room
in some suitable building on the heights for the purpose of having some convenient place for social meet-
ings. Mr. Winslow consented, but suggested that the prospective organization widen its scope and embody
as nearly as possible the features and conveniences of a regular club. On April 24, 1865, the Brooklyn Club
began its corporate existence. The five signers to the certificate of incorporation were : Dr. A. Cook Hull,
Charles J. Lowrey, E. S. Mills, Geo. W. Parsons and John Winslow. At that time the club had about fifty
members. Very soon after it became legally entitled to acquire property under its corporate name the
Brooklyn Club purchased a brick house on the southeast corner of Clinton and Pierrepont streets, the site
it now occupies. The building was originally a private seminary for young ladies and had been used for
that purpose only a short time prior to its sale. The price paid was about $24,000. From time to time
the structure was improved internally and externally. In December, 1883, the club bought for $18,000 a
commodious brick house, at 138 Pierrepont street, adjoining its own property, and for a time rented the new
acciuisition at a figure which paid the expenses attending its purchase. Early in 1S86 the two buildings
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
%3
were practically rebuilt and incorporated as one structure, presenting as they do now a handsome front of
brick and brownstone, about sixty feet in width on Pierrepont street. On Clinton street the house has a
depth of one hundred feet. During twenty of the most important years of its history-from 1870 until
1890— one of Brooklyn's best known citizens Benjamin D. Silliman, was president of the club. Under his
management the indebtedness of the organization was practically liquidated, the membership increased to
the full limit, and the club brought to its present prosperous condition. During the early portion of
this period the Brooklyn was the only club in this city, until the Oxford, and later the Hamilton, attained
each a recognized social existence. During Mr. Silliman's presidency there were many prominent events
Union League Clue House, Bedford Avenue and Dean Street.
in the history of the organization. At different times it publicly entertained the Duke of Connaught, the
Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, Admiral Farragut, General Sherman, General Grant, Henry M. Stanley, John
Tyndall, and many other men of note. Since 1885 its membership has been kept at the constitutional
limit of three hundred, and this small number renders it one of the most exclusive of such institutions.
David M. Stone succeeded Mr. Silliman as president and remained in office one term. The present offi-
cials of the club are: Benjamin F. Tracy, president; Henry D. Polhemus, vice-president; William D.
Steele, secretary ; and H. C. Duval, treasurer.
UNION LEAGUE CLUB.
Among the social clubs of Brooklyn the Union League is numerically the largest, and as a political
factor it is more influential than any other, besides being one of the foremost in social standing. The club
is an outgrowth of the Twenty-third Ward Social Republican Club, an institution which began its existence
in Thayer's Hall, corner of Bedford avenue and Fulton street, in March, 1887, with a membership of less
than twenty. Most of those interested in its success were business men who had only now and then an
evening to give to politics, and who met to discuss plans for the promotion of the interests of Repub-
licanism in this city. Arlington Hall, at Gates and Nostrand avenues, was secured as a place of rendez-
vous, and on February 11, 1888, the constitution was amended and the name of Union League Club was
adopted. On March 16, 1888, the members incorporated their organization under the title of "The Union
864 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
League Club of Brooklyn ;" at that time less than seventy names had been placed upon the roster. The
incorporators, who comprised the executive committee, were : Francis H. Wilson, president ; John W. Hussey
and Devine M. Hunger, vice-presidents ; John S. Nugent, treasurer ; John T. Sackett and Frank R. Moore,
secretaries. James O. Bedell was the first president of the club, with Howard M. Smith and Henry M.
Calvert as vice-presidents. John S. Nugent was the treasurer and Devine M. Munger was secretary. The
object of the club, as set forth in the preamble to its constitution, is : "To promote social intercourse; to
advance the cause of good government by awaking a political interest in citizens ; to overcome existing
indifference in the discharge of political duties and to perform such other work as may best conserve the
welfare of the Republican party." In the spring of 1889 the club removed to Hancock Hall, on Bedford
avenue, near Fulton street, where it remained until it took possession of the building now occupied. The
corner-stone of its present club house was laid in October, 1889, and the winter of 1890-91 saw the comple-
tion of the structure. It is built in a modified Romanesque style and occupies a plot of ground with a
frontage of one hundred and twenty feet on Bedford avenue and one hundred and fifteen feet on Dean
street. The building has a frontage of ninety-four feet on Bedford avenue and sixty-one feet on Dean
street. It contains four stories and an attic, resting on a basement of rock granite. The first three stories
are constructed of cinnamon colored brick with heavy brownstone trimmings, and above that brick and
terra cotta are used ; the roof is covered with Spanish tiles. The main entrance, on Bedford avenue, is
massive and imposing, with huge rounded arches, and heavy balustrades and columns, relieved by elaborate
carving; medallion portraits of Grant and Lincoln, typifying the military and civil powers of the Republi-
can party, look down from the spandrels at either side of the centre arch. At the Dean street corner a
projecting tower, octagonal in shape, rises from the basement to a point high above the roof, where it
tapers into a cone which is topped by a flagstaff. On the opposite front a series of bay windows, beginning
at the second story and ending at the attic, are crowned by a copper casting of a gigantic eagle with out-
stretched wings. The lowest of these windows rests on another eagle, carved in stone and perched upon
an American shield. These are merely salient features in the external architecture ; and no amount of
minutise in description would afford an adequate idea of the appearance of well-balanced solidity and grace-
fulness presented by the building. The interior is panelled in choice woods with light and dark finish ;
there are elaborate carvings, marble and tiled hallways, magnificent mirrors, stained glass windows, and
frescoes of attractive design and coloring. Opening into the main hallway are the reception rooms,
assembly room, ladies' parlor and office, while a magnificent winding staircase and elevators lead to the
other floors which are devoted to billiard rooms, library, card rooms, banqueting hall, private dining rooms
and committee rooms, gymnasium, baths, cloak rooms, bachelor apartments and employees' quarters. In
the basement are well arranged bowling alleys. The building is lighted by electricity from the club's own
electric plant, consisting of two engines and two dynamos capable of furnishing eight hundred incandes-
cent lights. The cost of the building, including the site and furniture, was $215,000, and the money was
raised by paying $40,000 out of the treasury surplus, and issuing bonds to the amount of $175,000, which
were all taken by the members of the club. An equestrian statue of General Ulysses S. Grant is now in
the hands of William Ordway Partridge, the sculptor, at his Parisian studio, and when completed it will be
placed in front of the club house. The statue is to cost $30,000, and is to be of the same size as that of
Washington in Union Square, New York. The Union League Club stands unrivaled for stability and rapid
growth. In less than two years from the time of its incorporation the club had increased in numbers from
less than seventy to about nine hundred, and at present it has over a thousand members. It exerts a pecu-
liar influence over the entire field of Republican politics in this city, because those connected with it are,
for the most part, men whose private characters are known to all. Representatives of every profession are
enrolled on its books, including several clergymen. Despite the fact that it is essentially a political club,
no member of it can receive the club's indorsement, in its corporate capacity, for any public office to which
he may aspire. Francis H. Wilson was elected president in March, 1888, and continued in that office until
March, 1892. At the annual election of officers of the club in March, 1892, Howard M. Smith was chosen
president; Benjamin F. Blair, first vice-president; Charles H. Russell, second vice-president; Clarence D.
Heaton, treasurer; Herbert S. Ogden, recording secretary ; Frederick J. Middlebrook, corresponding secre-
tary. The executive committee, which has power to make all rules and regulations necessary to carry into
effect the purposes of the club, was then constituted as follows : John S. Nugent, Jacob G. Dettmar. Clarence
W. Seamans, Henry S. Hayes, Jacob D. Ackerman, Frederick C. Truslow, Daniel G. Harriman, William W.
Heaton, Andrew B. Rogers, Benjamin Estes, John W. Hussey, Aaron G. Perham, Andrew D. Baird, Charles
B. Hobbs, Guernsey Sackett, John O. McKean, William O. Wyckoff and Frank H. Weed. As this volume
goes to press Charles S. Whitney becomes president of the club.
Howard M. Smith is well known in the city as a financier and as an ardent champion of Republican
principles. He is vice-president and cashier of the Bedford Bank ; vice-president of the Brooklyn Real
Estate Exchange, which he aided materially in organizing; trustee in the People's Trust Company ; and
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
865
director in the Brooklyn Heights Railroad Company. He was born near the town of De Witt, Onondaga
County, N. Y., in 1841. His parents lived on a farm, and educated their son at the common schools until
he was old enough to enter upon a course of higher study, when he passed through the Polytechnic Insti-
tute in Chittenango, and the seminary at Cazenovia. During the civil war he served with credit ; most of
the time as a staff officer, with the 184th Infantry and the 6th New York Cavalry. He has been twenty-
two years a resident of this city and has displayed an active interest in local political affairs. In company
Howard M. Smith.
with William Ziegler he conducted a number of extensive speculative dealings in the real estate field about
fifteen years ago, but his present activity in this direction is confined solely to purchases for investment.
His time and attention are mainly occupied by the affairs of the financial institution of which he is cashier.
When a boy he attended the first Republican state convention in company with his father, who was one of
the delegates ; and his experience and impressions on this occasion were in no small measure responsible
for his unswerving loyalty in after life to the principles of his party. His connection with the Union
League Club has been that of an active worker since its organization. He has done much to promote its
interests in every way, and until his election as president in 1892 had always served on the executive com-
mittee or held the office of chairman of the house committee. He is one of the trustees for the holders of
the club bonds. His military career has entitled him to an honorable position on the rolls of the Loyal
Legion, of which he has been a member several years.
Clarence D. Heaton was born in Liberty street, New York, on December 26, 1840; and five years
later came to Brooklyn. He was graduated from the Polytechnic Institute in 1857. After leaving school
he occupied a clerical position in a provision house in New York, and when he had been there for two years
he accepted a place with the Irving Savings Institution, New York. For seventeen years he filled various
positions of a subordinate character and won promotions until, in 1876, he became secretary of the institu-
tion, and occupied this place until 1890. At the election held that year he was chosen president. Among
bankers he is credited with exercising a most discreet judgment and he is thoroughly informed on all
matters pertaining to the interests of the institution with which he is connected. For twenty-five years he
has been a member of the Long Island Historical Society and of the Long Island Council, Royal Arcanum,
and he is treasurer of the Union League Club. He is married and has two sons, both of whom are engaged
in the banking business. For more than eighteen years he has been a member of the Lafayette Avenue
Presbyterian Church.
Francis H. Wilson is one of the earnest men to whom the Union League Club is indebted for its
present magnificent condition. His presidency began when the club was in its infancy, and when there
were few who would prophesy for it a future rivaling, in a great measure, that of its namesake in New York.
866
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
He continued at the head of affairs until the institu-
tion was established upon a sure foundation and then
resigned office. He was one of the organizers of the
club and has been an active spirit in it from the
beginning ; no club ever had a president more gener-
ally liked and respected. On his formal retirement
from office on the evening of March 3, 1892, he said
in his address : " It has never been the policy of this
club to live in the past. It has always faced the
future" — and with this sentiment, the keynote of his
policy in the management of the institution's affairs,
he handed the reins of authority to his successor. He
was born in Oneida County, N. Y., on February 11,
1844, and lived in the city of Utica until he reached
the age of eleven ; for the next eight years he worked
on his father's farm, four and a half miles from the
village of Clinton. At intervals, during the winter,
he attended the district school. In the autumn of i860
he entered the preparatory school of Dr. Benjamin W.
Dwight at Clinton. While a pupil in that institution
he displayed that persistency and determination to
succeed which has always been one of his most pro-
nounced characteristics and to which must be credited
many of his later triumphs. His education cost him
a daily walk of nine miles to and from his home, but
his punctuality was never interrupted save once, when
the death of an elder brother, a soldier in the Union army, necessitated his absence from school for a week.
In the summer of 1863 he was graduated at the head of his class. He entered Yale College in the fol-
lowing September and took his degree of Bachelor of Arts with the class of '67. During the ne.xt four
years he was associated with a brother as principal of a successful preparatory school at Rochester. In
1S72 he came to New York and studied law at Columbia College. After graduation he began practice in
the office of the Hon. Enoch L. Fancher, where he remained two years. He then opened an office of his
own in New York. In September, 18S4, he moved
to Brooklyn. He has been prominent in Republican - ~^B
politics. . ^^
Clarence W. Seamans was one of the first mem-
bers of the Union League, and when it took possession
of its new home he was made chairman of the house
committee. He was born at Ilion, N. Y., on June 5,
1854. Educated in the public schools of his native
town he entered, at the age of fifteen, the employ of
the Remington Arms Company as an office boy, and
rose to the responsibilities of a clerskhip. He was
sent to Utah in 1875 as the representative of the Rem-
ingtons to manage large timber and mining interests,
and remained there until 1878, when he returned to
New York to become manager for the Fairbanks Com-
pany, which had the general agency for all the type-
writing machines manufactured by the Remingtons at
In 1880 the Remington Company brought the
Francis H. V/ilsdn.
Ilion.
New York agency under its own control and retained
Mr. Seamans as manager ; two years later the business
passed into the hands of Wyckoff, Seamans & Bene-
dict, in which firm Mr. Seamans held a one-third
interest. It owns and operates the Remington plant
at Ilion. Mr. Seamans moved to Brooklyn in 1879,
and afterwards became prominent in the evolution
of the Union League Club, in which he is now one of
the executive committee. He is a member of the New
Clarence W. Seamans.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
867
York Avenue M. E, Church. His philanthropic incli-
nations prompted him to present to his native town a
free public library and a building admirably adapted to
the purpose for which it was designed ; it was given
without any conditions other than that it should be
open six days during every week and that a suitable
person should be secured as librarian.
James Oliver Bedell was one of the seven found-
ers and the first president of the Union League. For
the past eight years he has been at the head of one of
the most important departments in the drygoods estab-
lishment of the H. B. Claflin Company, and during that
period has frequently visited the markets of the old
world, where his discrimination and experience made
him invaluable as a buyer. Immediately prior to the
commencement of his association with the H. B. Claflin
Company, he was employed some years as a buyer in
the interest of a large drygoods jobbing firm in New
York. His duties in this capacity demanded a semi-
annual journey to Europe and thus was begun a
remarkable record of eighty voyages across the
Atlantic. These ocean experiences are embodied in
many pleasant personal recollections, interspersed with
memories of accidents, such as the collision of the
Guion liner "Arizona" with an iceberg off the Grand
James o. Bedell. 2^^.^,.^ ^^ Newfoundland. He was born at Keyport,
Monmouth County, N. J., in 1836, and received a common school education in his native town ; at the age
of sixteen he completed an academic course at Charlotteville, Schoharie County, N. Y. He began his mer-
cantUe career as a clerk in a general country store in New Jersey whence, after two years' experience, he
came to New York and became a clerk in the drygoods business until the outbreak of the civil war.
Receiving from the governor of his native state a commission to recruit, he performed the duty satisfactorily,
and in 1862 accepted a second lieutenancy in Company E, J4th Regiment, N. J. Volunteers. After serving
nearly two years he was honorably discharged on a sur-
geon's certificate of disability. He resumed business e.- ■-. -^--r^-^-,f^,,^«'v^,tv,s-.'-r---''--:w.^--r,m~.-^,~,„i:~,-- ,;,-.. ,:, ~.~,-^.
after the complete restoration of his health. In 1877
he became a resident of Brooklyn and for twelve
years has been a prominent figure in the social and
political life of the twenty-third ward. He is a mem-
ber of Erastus T. Tefft Post, G. A. R.
John S. Nugent, who was treasurer of the club
from its organization until March, 1892, made an envi-
able record by the marked ability with which he man-
aged its finances during that long term of service. He
was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, on
August II, 1850. From the age of two years until he
was sixteen he lived on his father's farm near Lon-
don, Ontario ; he attended the village school in winter,
and worked on the farm during the rest of the year.
When he was sixteen years old, he was sent to Vic-
toria College for two terms, and then came to New
York and obtained a situation as clerk in Lord &
Taylor's store on Grand street. At the end of a year
he accepted the position of book-keeper in a house
engaged in the paper business. He was soon advanced
to the position of salesman, which position he held until
March i, 1876, when he went into the paper business as
a member of the firm of Nugent & Steves. The firm
was prosperous from the outset, and on January i, 1883,
Mr. Nugent bought out the interest of his partner, Mr.
John S. Nugent.
g(53 THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Steves and with Tolui F. Romig formed the firm of J. S. Nugent & Co. In August, 1891,113 interests were
sold to the National Folding Box & Paper Co., of which company Mr. Nugent became secretary, and chair-
man of the executive committee of its board of directors. He is a member of the executive committee of
the club, and has always taken a deep and effective interest in its welfare.
John W. Hussf.y in performing the arduous and important task of superintending the erection of the
club house earned for himself the gratitude not only of his associates in the organization but also of every
man whose local pride caused him to appreciate anything that beautifies the city where he lives. He is
one of the charter members of the organization and has always been active in everything calculated to
promote its welfare ; he was the first to hold the office of vice-president and served in that capacity three
years; in 1891 he was unanimously elected for a like term as a member of the executive committee. He
was born at Rochester, N. H., on July 19, 1835, and is a graduate of Limerick Academy in Maine. When
he reached the age of sixteen he began to learn the trade of a machinist at South Newmarket, N. H., and
made a specialty of constructing engines, locomotives and sugar machines. In i860 he went to the West
Indies and spent the succeeding three years in selling and operating machines for use in the sugar trade;
subsequently he employed himself in erecting and operating rubber and paper factories in New Jersey. In
1S76 he moved to Brooklyn and became a member and director of the White, Potter Si Paige Manufacturing
Company, taking charge of its lumber and fancy cabinet wood interests. In 1892 he withdrew from the
company and established a wholesale lumber business in New York.
Devine M. Munger is another of the men whose energy assisted the development of the club, and his
services as secretary of the building committee, under the direction of which the new club house was completed,
have been gratefully appreciated by his fellow members in the organization. He was born in New York
and was educated in the ninth ward at public school No. 3. At an early age he began to learn the trade of
a stereotyper, but engaged later in the transportation business, which he followed during the next fourteen
years, eventually attaining the position of manager. Then he interested himself in building transactions
and speculated to a considerable extent in real estate. When the Union League Club was instituted he
was chosen secretary ; he occupied this position from March, 1887, until March, 1888, and, in conjunction
with J. O. Bedell, then president of the club, practically devoted all his leisure time to the service of the
organization. Upon resigning the office of secretary he was elected second vice-president, a position which
he held until 1S92.
WiLLi.-\M M. Adams is a life insurance manager and was formerly a teacher. He was born in New
York city on August 20, 1838, and on both sides of his parentage he traces his ancestry to the Puritan
settlers of New England ; his great-grandfather on the maternal side died on the "Jersey" prison ship in
Wallabout Bay. Mr. Adams was graduated at the Free Academy (now the College of the City of New
York) in 1855, from which institution he afterwards received the degree of Master of Arts. He first turned
his attention to school teaching and soon became vice-principal of a New York school, but left that profes-
sion to devote himself to mercantile life. In 1866 he moved to Brooklyn
and took charge of school No. 15. In 1869 he was chosen assistant
superintendent of the Brooklyn public schools, but declined the appoint-
ment and took charge of one of the departments of the New York Life
Insurance Company, with which corporation he remains. In 1S60 he
married Miss Ellen H. Franklin, of Hoboken, N. J. In 1856 he joined
the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, of New York city, where he had at-
tended from boyhood; on coming to Brooklyn he made his home in the
twentieth ward and connected himself with the Washington Avenue Bap-
tist Church, of which he acted as the Sunday-school superintendent four
years, and afterwards became a deacon. In 1888 he removed to the
twenty-third ward and transferred his membership to the Marcy Avenue
liaptist Church of which he is an active member.
Captain William H. Thompson was born at St. Stephen, N. B., on
May 13, 1S40, and was a grandson of James Brown, who was a member
of the Provincial Parliament of New Brunswick thirty-six years. After
attending school until he was seventeen years old, he went one day to
William M. Adams. ^ ■ , , 11 ■ , . . , , . . , , .
see a ship-launch, and the sight inspired him with a desire to go to sea.
Accordingly he shipped on board the " Constitution," remaining on board that ship until she was lost,
three years later, at San Salvador, on the very point where Columbus landed. He shipped as a boy, and in
the later half of his time on board he was made successively third, second, and chief officer. After serving
as mate on several vessels he took command of the clipper ship " Hypatia," an American vessel which was
sold to English owners, and upon which, under the English flag, he sailed in the East India trade from
Liverpool. In 1866 he was transferred to the " Andromeda," the largest sailing vessel of her day; she was
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
869
built for the Confederate service and was named the
"Shenandoah," but the British Government refused to
allow her to sail from a British port on her intended
mission, and so she was sold for mercantile purposes ;
he commanded her until 1870, when he became super-
intendent of the building of the White Star Line of
steamers. In 1871 he took command of the steamer
" Oceanic," from which he was transferred to the
"Republic" in 1872, and sent out to open the line to
all the Pacific ports of South America, in which under-
taking he succeeded. After his return he commanded
the steamer "Celtic," and then the " Britannic," taking
command of each new ship added to the line by virtue
of his rank of commodore. He was at this time the
only officer displaying the flag of the Royal Naval
Reserve sailing to New York, and he held a commis-
sion in that branch of the service. In this capacity
he had the honor of presentation at the court of St. J
James in 1878. He was the recipient of a gold watch
presented by the president of the United States, and
of a gold medal from the Shipwreck and Humane
Society, for saving the crew of the American ship
"Mountain Eagle," in January, 1872 ; and he received
a silver service and two silver cups from passengers
on the " Britannic " for making the quickest trip
across the Atlantic. In 1864 he invented an instru- William h. Thompson.
ment for observing the stars, enabling the mariner to find his position at night almost as well as by day,
and in 1872 he invented a method of extinguishing fires on board ship, and was granted royal letters patent,
the AVhite Star and other lines adopting it at once ; in 1882, all the great steamship lines carrying passen-
gers from America were obliged by a special act of Congress to adopt it. He resigned from the White
Star Line in 1878 to organize a line for the New York Central Railroad Company, but the enterprise was
not carried out. In 1879 he engaged in the shipping and commission business in New York, and in 1881 he
organized the Anglo-American Dry Dock Company, and built two dry docks at Erie Basin, Brooklyn. He
was president of the company two years, when he resigned, though he is still a shareholder in the company.
He remained in the shipping business until 1886, when he accepted a position with the Equitable Life
Assurance Society, of New York, eventually becoming manager of the metropolitan district, which position
he retains. In 1891 he was elected to membership in the New York Chamber of Commerce.
Hugh M. Funston is a representative business man whose home has been in Brooklyn for many years
and whose career is an exemplification of the indomitable spirit which animates the American man of
affairs. When he was sixteen years old he came to New York and soon after became a clerk with a fire-
works manufacturing firm in New York city. Nine years later, in 1857, he was the head of the firm into
whose employ he had entered as a lad, the firm being Funston & Schofield, and under his energetic man-
agement it prospered so greatly that in a few years he was able to retire with a considerable fortune.
Settling in Rockland County he invested largely in real estate at Spring Valley, where he made his home.
While living there he built a fine academy at a cost of $14,000, furnished it completely, hired an efficient
corps of teachers and kept it in operation for the benefit of the community. A serious depreciation in the
value of real estate which occurred several years later impaired his fortune to such an extent that he
accepted an invitation from his successors in the fireworks business to take an interest in the enterprise,
and at the present time he is largely interested in the Consolidated Fireworks Company of America. He
was born on August 19, 1833, and is a direct descendant on his mother's side from one of the Huguenot
families who fled from France after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. When he was a child his parents
removed with him to Greenwich, Conn., where he remained until he was sixteen years old, receiving his edu-
cation first at the common schools and subsequently at what was known as the Greenwich Academy. A
little more than thirty-six years ago he enlisted as a private in Company A, 7th Regiment, N. Y. S. M., in
which he was rapidly promoted through the different grades of non-commissioned officers to that of first
lieutenant. He remained in active service until he removed from New York and took up his residence in
Brooklyn. During his connection with the 7th Regiment he was present at the famous "Dead Rabbit
Riots," also the "Sepoy, or Quarantine Riots." In April, 1861, he went with his regiment to Washington,
and again in the following year. In 1863, when Pennsylvania was threatened with invasion by the
g^Q THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Confederates, he marched with his regiment to the defence. He is a member of the Veteran Association
of the 7th Regiment, and has always been active in advancing the interests of that organization. In May,
1887, he was mustered into Lafayette Post, G. A. R. He became a Freemason in 1864, joining Varick
Lodge of Jersey City ; he has since attained a high rank in the order, and is looked upon as a practical
Hugh m. Funston.
exponent of its principles in every respect. He is a member and trustee of the Sixth Avenue Methodist
Episcopal Church and is one of a committee of three for the building of the new edifice on Seventh avenue.
He married Miss Anna D. Dickinson, daughter of Dr. Dickinson, of Brooklyn, in 1853.
Jacob D. Ackerman was one of the early members of the club and has served since March, 1892, as
one of the executive committee. He was one of the finance committee during the building of the new club
house. Born in Bergen County, N. J., he attended the public schools in New York, and was graduated at
the Collegiate School of the Reformed Church. After being nine months a clerk at Hoboken, N. J., he
engaged himself to drive a cart in New York city, where in four years he saved enough to buy a horse
and cart of his own and continued in the same line of work on his own account. Eventually he drifted into
the forwarding business in connection with the New Bedford steamers. From that line he went to the
Fall River Line as forwarding agent, which position he retains. He became a resident of Brooklyn in
1863 and has lived here ever since. He is a past regent of the New York Council, Royal Arcanum.
Daniel G. Harkiman, who has been chairman of the executive committee since the organization of
the club, was born at New Sharon in Franklin County, Me., and after preparing for college at Kent's Hill,
was graduated at Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn. He was a member of the first convention
that adopted the title of "The Republican Party." This convention met in the village of Strong, Franklin
County, Me., on August 7, 1854. Mr. Harriman was admitted to the bar in Cumberland County, Me., in
1867. A year later he moved from his native state to New York and became a resident of Brooklyn.
Liimediately upon his arrival here he was admitted to practice by the general term at Newburgh, and for
several years occupied an office in Brooklyn with George G. Reynolds. In 1874 he transferred his office to
New York and has since continued as a practitioner in that city. He has always been a strong exponent
of practical party loyalty, has served on the executive committee of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club
several years, and has delivered many speeches in this city, and elsewhere in favor of his party's candidates.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
871
Daniel G. Harkiman.
In 1888 he made an address before the Union League ^ ^'
Club on "Protection versus Free Trade," which was
printed by the club and circulated to the extent of
1,250,000 copies; in 1892 he wrote "American Tariffs
from Plymouth Rock to McKinley," which was pub-
lished in pamphlet form by the American Tariff League.
It comprised about one hundred pages and furnished a
complete history of our protective system from the
earliest times ; it became exceedingly popular and the
first edition alone distributed 100,000 copies.
John F. Romig was born on February 10, 1853, in
Morrisania, Westchester County, now within the limits
of New York city. When he was eight years old his fam-
ily moved to Pittsburg, Pa., where he attended school.
At the age of sixteen he entered the employ of the
leading local confectioner, in which he remained until
he was twenty-one years old. After engaging in busi-
ness for himself for a short period, he was employed in
1876 by Nugent & Steves as manager of their west-
ern territory, and continued in that capacity until he
succeeded Mr. Steves as a member of the firm, the name
of which was changed to J. S. Nugent & Co. They
conducted business until 1891, when the firm, together
with D. S. Walton & Co., the Cornell, Shelton Co., F.
H. Benton & Co., Munson & Co., the Whiting Co. and
the Chicopee Box Co. disposed of their interests to
the National Folding Box & Paper Co., which had been organized for the purpose of consolidation. On the
first of August, 1891, Mr. Romig was appointed manager of the sales department of the newly formed com-
pany, which position he retains. He is a member of the Sunday-school Union of the M. E. Church and of
the New York Educational Society, and since he became a resident of Brooklyn, in 1S81, he has been an
active member and one of the trustees of the New York Avenue M. E. Church. For several years he was
assistant superintendent of the Sunday-school and since 1890 he has been superintendent. He is recording
secretary of the Veteran Ministers' Relief Associa-
tion of the M. E. Church. In 1874 he married Miss
Mary Wachter, daughter of Dr. Charles L. Wachter,
who was six years an army surgeon in various field and
government hospitals.
Major Augustus C. Tate, marshal of the United
States circuit court of appeals, has been distin-
guished in public life for many years and is a well
known Brooklynite. He was born in New York city on
January 6, 1835, and received preliminary education
at a public school. At the age of fourteen he went
to Charlotte Academy in Delaware County, N. Y.,
where he remained three years and then returned to
New York to assist his father in the drygoods business.
On April 19, 1861, he enlisted in the 12th Regi-
ment, N. Y. S. M., then commanded by Colonel Daniel
Butterfield. He was at once made color sergeant
and served in that capacity during the three months
the Twelfth was in active service. At the expiration
of the ninety days' term he again enlisted ; he was
! commissioned captain in the 131st N. Y. Volunteers and
! was promoted to the rank of major on September 8,
1863. He participated in most of the important battles
of the southwest, seeing much hard service along the
Mississippi. In 1865 he was mustered out with his
, , regiment and returned to Brooklyn. Under the
John f. Romig. collectorship of Chester A. Arthur, he was appointed
872
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
inspector in the New York custom house and acted
as aid to A. B. Cornell, surveyor of the port. He
Amos Broadnax.
continued as inspector until 1883, when President
Arthur appointed him United States marshal for the
eastern district of New York. He held that office until
1887. In June, 1891 he was appointed marshal of
the United States circuit court of appeals, established
by the previous session of congress — practically a
life position. He has been at every Republican state
and national convention for the past twenty-five years.
In 1868 he was secretary to the national convention
held in Chicago. He is a member of the Society of
the Army of the Potomac and of U. S. Grant Post, G.
A. R.
Amos Broadnax is a descendant from an old Eng-
lish family of that name having its seat in Kent, Eng-
land. He was born in Hoboken, N. J., in 1827. In his
boyhood and early manhood he learned the trade of
machinist and mechanical engineer. In 1848 he entered
the engineer corps of the United States navy, where
he served until 1855. In that year he resigned and
began the study of law at St. Louis, Mo., being admit-
ted to the bar in 1858. He moved to Washington in
1861 ; practiced law there until 1862, when he entered
the service of the United States government in the
building of the iron clad monitors, "Tecumseh," "Man-
hattan " and "Mahopac," which were constructed in Jersey City. His earliest political opinions were
moulded on Whig lines, and his first vote in a presidential contest was cast for John C. Fremont. Since
that time he has voted with the Republican party.
Israel F. Fischer is one of the most earnest politicians in the club, never holding public office, but
indefatigable in his work for candidates on the Republican ticket. He has been a resident of Brooklyn
since 1887. Two years after coming to this city he was chairman of the Republican campaign committee.
He was elected chairman of the executive committee
of the Republican General Committee in 1890, and was
reelected in 1892, but resigned at the May meeting of
the committee that year. He was born in New York
city on August 18, 1858, and after attending the public
schools until his thirteenth year he entered the law
office of Henry S. Bennett as a clerk. This clerkship
continued until 1879, when he was admitted to the bar
and began practice. He entered into partnership with
Mr. Bennett in 1887, and in 1892 the law firm of Davi
son & Fischer was formed, with Mr. Bennett as senioi
counsel. Mr. Fischer is a member of the Canarsie
Yacht Club, of which he has been commodore two
years. During that period the club has grown in mem-
bership from fifty-four to one hundred and fifty-six.
John S. McKeon, who is one of the executive com-
mittee of the club, is one of the most successful busi-
ness men of Brooklyn and is identified with a variety
of local interests both of a business and social char-
acter. He is a member of the Hanover Club, Knights
of Honor, Royal Arcanum, and other organizations : a
trustee of the Eastern District Hospital, Kings County
Savings Bank, and Kings County Building and Loan
Association; and in the Ross Street Presbyterian
Church he holds the office of treasurer. From the
year 1845, '" which he was born, he has been a resi-
dent of Brooklyn. His education was obtained at the Israel F. Fischer.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
873
John S McKeon.
public schools, of which he was a pupil until 1859,
when he was graduated at public school No. i. Begin-
ning as an errand boy in a clothing store, he ob-
tained a clerkship in the clothing house of Hanford
& Browning, of New York, in iS6i. After leaving
that firm he was in the wholesale trade in the boys'
clothing business in New York until 1870, when he be-
came a partner in the firm of Smith, Gray, McKeon
& Co., in Brooklyn. Retiring from that firm in 1879,
Mr. McKeon established himself at the corner of
Bioadway and Bedford avenue and began the manu-
facture and sale of clothing. He does both a whole-
sale and retail business, and employs more than five
hundred persons.
Edw.\rd H. Hobbs is prominent as a leader of
the Republican party in Brooklyn as well as a success-
ful lawyer and man of affairs. For sixteen consecu-
tive years he served as a delegate from the twenty-
fourth ward to the Republican General Committee ;
he has been a member of the executive commtttee of
that body the same length of time, and was four
years its chairman. In 18S4 he was chairman of the
county campaign committee. With the exception of
the last two, he has been delegate to all the state con-
ventions of his party since 1877. For five years he was
a delegate to the Republican State Committee and
one year was its treasurer. He was a delegate to the national convention of 1884, from what was then the
second district. Although never an office seeker, he was nominated for the office of surrogate in 1883, and,
though he failed of election, he ran more than 35,000 votes ahead of the state ticket. He aided in organizing
the Bedford Bank and is one of its directors. He was born in the town of Ellenburgh, Clinton County,
N. Y., on June 5, 1835. His parents were pioneers in the settlement of northern New York, his father ser-
ving on the frontier as a captain of infantry during the war of 181 2. While Edward was a boy the family
removed to Malone, Franklin County. He prepared
for college at the Franklin Academy and entered ,,,
Middlebury College, in Averment. During his senior
year in college he enlisted as a private in the army
and served under General McClellan, in the army of
the Potomac, until the fall of 1862 ; and then under
General Hunter in South Carolina and under General
Foster in North Carolina. He was promoted to a
lieutenancy and at the chjse of his service was adju-
tant of his regiment. After the war he studied at the
Albany Law School, and, in 1867, began practice in
New York with F. A. Wilcox, and later in the office of
ex-Judge Beebe, under the firm name of Beebe, Wil-
cox & Hobbs. This connection lasted until 1883, when
Mr. Hobbs left to form the firm of Hobbs & Gifford.
He is a general practitioner and is equally familiar
with commercial, admiralty and corporation law. He
is a director in the Equitable Mortgage Co., of Kansas
City and New York.
Henry Siede is one of the prominent men of Brook-
lyn who are native to the city wherein they have
lived successful lives. He was born at 297 Gate
avenue, on August 18, 1863, and moving to 277 Gates
avenue, two years later, has lived there ever since.
He was educated at public school No. 3 and at the
Adelphi Academy, where he studied three years. He
completed his studies at Dresden, Saxony, where he
Edward H. Hobbs.
874
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
lived four years and learned the trade of furrier. The year 1876 he spent at Leipsic and in travel, after
which he came home and embarked in the manufacture of dolls' furs under a patent of his own. In 1878
he became a clerk in his father's fur store ; in June, 1886, Mr. Siede, senior, died, leaving his entire property
to his wife. His son bought the business in May, 1887. He is very fond of saddle riding and is a member
of the Riding and Driving Club and the Park Riding Club of New York. He worships at the Central Con-
gregational Church.
Wii.li.JlM O. Wyckoff, for many years president of the Remington Standard Typewriter Manufacturing
Company, was born on his father's farm in the town of Lansing, Tompkins County, N. Y., on February
16, 1835. He was educated at the public schools and the Ithaca Academy. About the year 1856 he settled
on government land in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, acquiring one hundred and sixty acres, with the
intention of earnmg enough to enable him to take a college course. The crisis of 1857 caused him to
abandon that idea, and in July he returned to Ithaca and began the study of law in the office of a
prominent attorney there. When the civil war began he discontinued his law studies and enlisted as a
private in the first company organized in Tompkins County; a company which later formed a part of the
32d N. Y. Volunteers. Before the regiment reached the front he was promoted to the rank of second
lieutenant; immediately after the battle of Bull Run he was advanced to the rank of first lieutenant, and
before the full term of two years for which he had enlisted had expired, he was made captain of the
company. Returning to Ithaca at the expiration of his term of service, he resumed his law studies, and on
November 16, 1863, at Binghamton, was admitted to practice. About that time he pursued a course of study
and was graduated at Ames Business College, Syracuse, N. Y. He early became interested in the phono-
graphic art, pursuing this study while attending school, reading law, and during his leisure hours in the
service. In January, 1866, he was appointed official stenographer of the supreme court for the sixth judicial
district of New York, which position he held sixteen consecutive years. He was one of the founders of the
New York State Stenographers' Association, holding for one term the ofilice of president of the association,
in which he retains his membership. About the year 1875 he obtained the agency for the sale of Remington
typewriting machines. When not engaged in court work he applied himself diligently to the introduction
of the typewriter into law offices and business houses. In 1882, at the solicitation of the Remingtons and
others interested, he associated himself with C. W. Seamans and H. H.Benedict, and the firm of Wyckoff,
Seamans & Benedict was formed for the purpose of carrying on the typewriter business ; at the same time
they entered into a contract with E. Remington & Sons to take their entire production of typewriters and
place them on the market. The venture proved successful, and in 1886 all the rights, title, interest,
franchises, tools, machinery, etc., pertaining to the manufacture of the Remington typewriter passed into
the hands of Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict. That firm
i -7, immediately organized the Remington Standard Type-
[' writer Manufacturing Company, for the manufacture
i . of the machines, and Mr. Wyckoff was elected presi-
_, ^ dent. When, on May 19, 1892, with a capital of $3,000, -
000, the Remington Standard Typewriter Manufac-
turing Company was consolidated with the Standard
Typewriter Company, the corporate style assumed by
the firm as selling agents, Mr. Wyckoff was elected
president of the new company. He was one of the
early and most active members of the Union League;
for four years he has been a member of the executive
committee, having been chairman of the reception com-
mittee on the occasion of the dedication of the new
building, and of the first ladies' reception given by
the club.
Walter Scott, Jr., was one of the first members
of the club and is one of its most enthusiastic work-
ers. He is the youngest of six children, and was born
of Scotch parents in Montreal, Canada, on December
22, 1861. At the age of four his family moved to Bos-
ton, Mass., where he attended the public schools. His
first experience in a mercantile way was as a cash boy
in one of the large drygoods stores of Boston, and
thereafter for a short time he was employed by a drug-
gist. He was barely fifteen years of age when he
entered the employ of Butler Brothers, wholesale
William o. Wyckoff.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
87s
Walter Scott, Jr.
'' dealers in small wares and notions, and was rapidly
! promoted from one position to another. When the
Chicago branch of this firm was established in 1879,
he was for a time connected with the house in that
city, but he was again transferred to the New York
store which had just been opened. In 1885 he was
admitted to the firm of Butler Brothers, and he is one
of the managers of their business in New York. He
ranks as a leader among the largest and most influen-
tial of Scottish associations in the United States. He
is not a brilliant orator, but his force and logic more
than compensate for any lack of brilliancy, and in
several important debates in which he has participated
at the annual conventions of the United Clans, he has
almost invariably come out victorious. He has served
four years on the membership committee of the Union
League Club, and he is vice-royal chief of the Order
of Scottish Clans of the United States and Canada;
he is a member of the Scottish Charitable Society of
i Boston, St. Andrew's Society of New York, Waverly
Club of Brooklyn, New York Scottish Society and the
l^j Royal Arcanum. In 18S3 he married Miss Sadie D.
Campbell, of Boston, and they have lived in Brooklyn
continuously since that time. He is known among
"' ' ""•■■ his friends as a lover of athletic sports and is the
possessor of several trophies won on the cinder path.
He is a lover of horses and is an adept with the rod and gun.
Albert C. Hallam, M. D., is a member of the family which has been distinguished in the literary
world, one of its members being Henry Hallam, author of "The History of the Middle Ages." The
father of Dr. Hallam was a frequent contributor to Boston periodicals, and his mother was a member of the
prominent New England family of Bowles. Dr. Hallam was born in Watertown, Conn., on June 22, 1844,
and received his rudimentary education in the schools of Waterbury, Conn. After completing his common
school studies he entered Yale College in 1863, and
was graduated in 1866 with high honors. He began , s
the study of his profession in 1863 with Dr. James 5
Welch, of Winsted, Conn., and continued with him
during the vacation seasons of the three years he was
at Yale. On January 20, 1866, he located in Brook-
lyn and began the practice of his profession. On
November 4, 1867, he married Miss Mary Devendorf,
daughter of Dr. Edward Devendorf, a well-known
physician of Brooklyn and a resident of the fifteenth
ward. On August 23, 1888, Mrs. Hallam died ; his
family now consists of his two daughters. Having
been an extensive traveler in all parts of Europe he
has collected a number of fine art productions, which
adorn the walls of his residence. Aside from his
professional duties he is a member of a number of
social clubs and various organizations of the city,
among which, besides the Union League Club, are the
Amphion Singing Society, the Royal Arcanum, Legion
of Honor, and the A. O. U. W. He was the first
vice-president of the Hanover Club, is vice-president
of the Bushwick Savings Bank and the Amphion
Academy Company, and a member of the Brooklyn
Bureau of Charities. He was a member of the board
of education under Mayor Low. He is always
generous to worthy charitable causes and is highly
respected.
Albert C. Hallam, M. D.
876
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Andrew B. Rogers, Jr., has been actively associated in the work of the club ever since he became a
resident of Brooklyn; he is a member of the executive committee, and was a member of the house
committee when the new club house was opened. He was born in New York on February 7, 1851, and was
educated at the public schools and at the College of the City of New York. He began his business career
in 1866 as a clerk in the employ of Charles Downer. Afterwards, in 1873, he organized the drug importing
firm of Dickinson &: Rogers, which gave way in 1881 to its successor, Rogers & Pratt. He moved to
Brooklyn in i8go. He is prominent in the councils of the Methodist Episcopal denomination and is a
member of the board of stewards of the Nostrand Avenue M. E. Church. He was one of the presidential
electors in 1S88 from this state.
Charles S. \VHrri\EY has been signally successful in his relations with the club as chairman of the
house committee; and he is a well known man in the social life and club circles of the city. He was born
in Brooklyn on November 7, 1S56, and was educated at Lockwood's Academy and the Adelphi Academy.
At the age of eighteen he was graduated with the highest honors and left school to begin business life.
After an experience of two years with a prominent Brooklyn real estate firm, he accepted employment with
Sawyer, Wallace & Co., of New York, with whom he remained for six years. During that time he was
advanced from one position to another until he finally became chief clerk in the exporting department. He
next connected himself with the ship brokerage and commission firm of J. V. Whitney & Co., of which his
father was the senior member, and in which, within a short time, he was admitted to a partnership. The
relations of the firm with the commercial world have been greatly extended through the energy of its
junior partner. He has held the office of vice-president and president of the New York Maritime
Exchange; he was elected to the latter office at the age of thirty-two and was the youngest man ever
chosen to fill that post. He proved himself a capable executive oiificer, and after serving one term declined
an offer of unanimous reelection. He is a member of the Crescent Athletic and Prospect Gun clubs
His family consists of his wife and three children, and he is a member and vestryman of St. Bartholomew's
Episcopal Church. He owns a handsome country residence at Arlington, Vt.
Aaron G. Perha.m was one of the organizers of the club, has served for two years on the finance
committee, and is a member of the executive committee. He was born in Wayne County, Pa., and was
educated at the district schools and at Wyoming Seminary, at Kingston I^a. His youth and early manhood
were spent in hard work on his father's farm, with the exception of two winters spent in the severe school
of the lumber camps of northern Pennsylvania. The money earned in lumbering he used to pay for his
seminary education. His first business engagement was that of book keeper at Rupert, Pa. From there he
removed to Millburn, X. J., and on January i, 1870, he took the position of accountant in a wholesale coal
office in Philadelphia, In May, 1874, he removed to
Brooklyn, where he has since continuously resided.
For three years after coming to New York he was em-
ployed as salesman in the wholesale coal business, and
then became a partner in the firm of J. D Kurtz,
Crook & Co. He is now a partner in the firm of
Crook & Perham, wholesale coal merchants of New
York. He is a member of the Coal Trade Club of
New York, and a trustee of the New York Coal Ex-
change; he is also a director in the Weehawken
Wharf Company and vice-president of the Edgar
Boiler Company. He has taken an active interest in
public affairs and was for a number of years a mem-
ber of the Republican General Committee of Kings
County. For more than seven years he was a mem-
ber of the 23d Regiment, N. G,, S. N. Y., five years
of which time he was second lieutenant of Company
G ; and he is now a member of the regimental and
Company G veteran associations.
One of the early members of the club is L Au-
gustus Stanwoou ; he is well known and thoroughly
liked by his fellow members, and is also prominent as
a laborer for the welfare of the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association ; he is a deacon of Plymouth Church
and active in Sunday school work. He was born in
Augusta, Me., and early in life learned the trade of a
paper manufacturer. He advances claims, which are
Aaron G. Perham.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
877
generally admitted, to have been the first manufacturer in America to use wood as a material for paper
making. In 1875 he moved to Brooklyn and in the same year secured an appointment to a position in the
New York custom house, which he filled for many years, making at the same time a study of law, for
which profession he had a strong predilection. Since 1888 he has practiced in the federal courts. He is a
staunch Republican and a skillful expositor of the principles of that party.
James P. Philip was born in September, 1861, in Catskill, Greene County, N. Y., and was prepared for
the higher paths of educational training at the Catskill Academy. From this institution he went to Rutgers
College, where he was president of his class ; he edited the Rutgers
Targum and the College Annual; was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa
Society, and was graduated among the honor men of the class of 1882.
^^M^^ A year later he began to study law in the office of Eugene Burlingame
^^^^^^ at Albany, N. Y.; he also studied at the Albany Law School, where he
^K^ M was president of his class and where he was graduated in 1886. He
^B^^W., returned to Catskill, and for twelve months occupied desk room in the
^^^l-^ f office of John A. Griswold ; at the end of the year he moved to New York,
^^B^Wf ^""^i accepting a position with the Title Guarantee & Trust Company,
JS'^AjiAfeSMii became assistant manager of the branch office which that institution had
established in Brooklyn. In 1890 he dissolved his connection with the
corporation, and resumed private practice in Brooklyn. He is secretary
of the Long Island Country Club.
Andrew Peck is one in whom the contest with untoward circum-
stances, creating and developing a spirit of self-reliance, seems to have
developed also an unselfish nature into one of broad and noble gener-
osity. He was born on October 15, 1836, in the city of New York. He
James . hilip. ^^^^ Orphaned at an early age, and the Leke and Watts Orphan House
became his shelter. His gratitude for what was done for him there has been shown since in the constant
interest he has taken in the institution and in the formation in 1884 of the l,eke and Watts Association, a
beneficial and social organization composed of former male inmates of the house, of which he has been pre-
sident from the first. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a general storekeeper at Rockville, N.
Y., and experienced so many unnecessary hardships that early one spring morning in 1852 he ran away, tak-
ing with him only the clothes he wore and in his pocket the sum of si.\-pence, the first money he ever had,
to call his own. After many vicissitudes he reached New York city and secured employment in a grocery
store up town, but remained only a short time. In 1859
he took charge of a book and stationery store in Jersey
City. At the beginning of the civil strife he enlisted
for three years in the 38th N. Y. Volunteers, and after
serving ten months was honorably discharged on ac-
count of physical disability resulting from exposure.
He had married in Jersey City a week before his
departure for the south. After his return he began
publishing in a small way on his own account, and
in 1863 he returned to the bookselling business and
began making baseballs and selling them to small
stores, thus beginning a trade that has grown to
immense proportions and with which his name is in-
separably connected. In 1868 he was joined in busi-
ness by W. Irving Snyder, the two men forming the
house of Peck & Snyder of New York. Business in-
terests led Mr Peck to become a resident of Brook-
lyn in the spring of 1876, he having bought out
several knitting plants for the manufacture of woolen,
silk and other gymnasium goods. Since that time he
has secured blocks of lots, and has built many houses
and also a few flat buildings and factories. He is a
member of a number of societies and institutions.
In freemasonry he has manifested a very active in-
terest, and is an officer in several of the local bodies,
having taken all the many degrees. His family con-
sists of his wife and one daughter. He has one of the
Andrew Peck.
878
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Abram M. Kirby.
largest and most valuable masonic libraries ever col-
lected, comprising more than 15,000 books and pam-
phlets.
Abram IVIulford Kirby is a scion of an old Long
Island family. He is a descendant of William Mul-
ford, an original proprietor of Southampton, whither
he moved from Salem, Mass., in 1645. On the paternal
side also he has a Long Island ancestry. He was
born at Cutchogue, Suffolk County, on September 16,
1S39; but within a few weeks was brought to Brook-
lyn, where he was educated. His parents were Francis
___^_»> _»_^^^^^_«- *--• Kirby and Philena H. Kirby. At the beginning of
ttHHtt| ' ^&^^^|H||i^'''^^^^^^^^ the war he left for the front with the 13th Regiment,
^^^^^ /I^Kfk ^^^r^ ^^ ' '^^^^^"^^ N. Y. S. M., serving in the engineer corps of the regi-
ment. He began his business career in the office of
the People's Fire Insurance Company of New York,
on March i, 1856, and on May 21, 1857, entered the
employ of the newly formed Brooklyn company, the
Montauk, of which he subsequently became secretary.
His longest business connection was as one of the
secretaries with the Continental Insurance Company
of New York, with which he was associated nineteen
years. During this period he was active in the councils
of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters. At
the present time he represents the Traveler's Casu-
alty Company of Hartford, in developing a compara-
tively new line of casualty business, that of general employers' liability in connection with street rail-
ways. He is a member of Kane Lodge of the masonic fraternity. Post Lafayette, 140, C. A. R.,
the 'Lawyers' Insurance, New York Athletic, and Manhattan Athletic clubs of New York, and the
L'nion League Club of Brooklyn, the St. Nicholas Society of New York and the Society of Old Brook-
lynites. He is a communicant, and was for some years a vestryman of St. John's P. E. Church.
Among tlie younger men whose social inclinations and political principles have made them valuable in
the ranks of the club, there are few better known to
their associates in the organization than Frank E.
Kirby. He was born in Brooklyn in December, 1859.
He was educated, first at the public schools, and
afterwards at Professor Overheiser's academy. When
he left school he obtained employment as an office
boy with Jesse Hoyt & Co., grain merchants of New
York, and he gradually advanced himself to a member-
ship in the Produce E.xchange, which he retained four
years ; the latter half of this period he spent as buyer
and seller for tlie firm of Henry Clews & Co. His
next change placed him on the road as agent for the
Palmer Chemical Company, in whose employ he re-
mained three years. His next situation of responsi-
bility was that of special agent for the Employers'
Liability Assurance Corporation of London, which
position he has continued to occupy until the present
time. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Mor-
gan Drug Company, in which he is financially inter-
ested. He is a member of the Insurance Club of
New York.
The family of which Chester B. Lawrence is a
member is a very large one which originated in Eng-
land and came to America from Holland. Three of
his ancestors received from the Dutch government
grants of land now included in the towns of New-
town, Hempstead and Flushing, L. I. His father, Frank E. kirby.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
879
Chester B. Lawrence.
Effingham N. Lawrence, established more than sixty
years ago the warehouse storage business in which the
son is still engaged. In 1854 he was one of the firm
owning Coe's stores, and which in 185S opened the
warehouse opposite Catharine Ferry, New York, both
of which are now owned by Lawrence, Son & Gerrish,
of which Chester B. Lawrence has been, since the
death of his father, the senior member. He is a
thorough Brooklynite. The residence at 319 Wash-
ington avenue, which he built for his wife twelve
years ago, is one of the handsomest, both in architec-
ture and furnishing, of Brooklyn's many handsome
homes. He is a member of the Lincoln and Rem-
brandt clubs and of the Sundown Fishing Club. Since
1884 he has been an executive committeeman of the
Republican Club and for a year he was vice-president.
He was born in New York city on September 15, 1845.
He attended school at Portchester for eight years and,
in 1862, engaged as clerk in a shipping house until
1865, when he became a partner with his father in
business. He married a daughter of George C, Peters,
of New York, and has made Brooklyn his home
since 1868.
John F. Henry is the descendant of a family
that originally came from Aberdeen, Scotland, and
settled in Massachusetts, prior to the revolutionary
war. Another branch of the same family made a home in Virginia and one of its members was the famous
patriot, Patrick Henry. James M. Henry, the father of John F. Henry, was for many years prominent in
public life as a citizen of Waterbury, Vt., and represented that constituency several terms in the state legis-
lature. His brother, General William Wirt Henry, earned a reputation as a gallant soldier, was four terms
in the Vermont senate, served two terms as mayor of Burlington, Vt., and held office under the Federal
government as United States marshal. John F. Henrv was born in Waterbury, Vt., on February 25, 1834.
He was educated at the Bakersfield Academy, and on
August I, 1855, began his business career by opening
a drug store in his native town. He was successful,
accumulated money, and rapidly attained prominence
in municipal and state politics. He became clerk of
the district and then was appointed postmaster by
President Lincoln. At the age of twenty-two he was
made a trustee of the leading Congregational church
in Waterbury, although not a member. In 1859 he
opened a branch drug store in Montreal, where he
conducted a successful business during the next ten
years. On January i, 1866, he came to Brooklyn and
acquired an interest in the firm of Demas Barnes &
Co., of New York. For three years he remained as
a partner in the firm, and then became the sole
proprietor, the firm name being changed to John F.
Henry & Co. He is the treasurer of the Republican
General Committee of Kings County, a member of
the executive committee of that body, and president
of the Tenth Ward Republican Association. In 1873,
he received the senatorial nomination in the second
district, and four years later headed the municipal
ticket against James Howell, who then for the first time
appeared before the electors as a candidate for the may-
oralty. He is a charter member of the New York Board
of Trade and Transportation, and served twelve years
as chairman of that organization's executive committee.
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
Daring a period of twenty-two years lie has been active and prominent in the New York Chamber
of Commerce, and he is president of the American Board of Transportation and Commerce. He was for
several years the largest stockholder in the Brooklyn Union, and for three or four terms acted as president
of the corporation publishing that paper. In this enterprise he was associated with General Benjamin F.
Tracy ex-Mayor Frederick A. Schroeder and others. He was at various times a partner in the well known
New Orleans drug house of Barnes, Ward & Co., and in the firm of John F. Henry & Co., of Montreal. He
is a member of the New England Society of New York, the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, and the
New York Tariff League. In Brooklyn he is a member of the New England Society, the Vermont Society,
the Long Island Historical Society, and other organizations. Although not a member, he has been a trustee
of the South Congregational Church twenty-three years.
Distinguished in the social life of Brooklyn by those tastes which ennoble and refine, Henry T. Chap-
man, Jr., is not less known for other qualities in the great financial world of the metropolis. He is a native
of New York, but for more than fifty years has lived
in Brooklyn. His father came to Brooklyn about 1839
and built a home on Clinton avenue near the corner
of Lafayette, in the immediate vicinity of his son's i
present residence. The son was at first instructed by
private tutors and at the Bousaud Academy in Brook-
lyn, completing his studies in Europe. While abroad
he cultivated a taste for the fine arts and the subse-
quent encouragement of this predilection has led to
results which are noted at length elsewhere in this
volume. He was one of the original eleven organizers
of the 23d Regiment, N. G., S. N. Y.
i^hich he after-
Henry T. Chapman, Jr.
wards held the rank of major ; he resigned to accept
the colonelcy of the s6th Regiment and afterwards
received a staff appointment under General John B.
Woodward. He has been associated with financial
interests many years and was connected with a New
York bank ; for some time past he has been among
the more prominent members of the New York Stock
Exchange. He is a member of the Oxford, Rembrandt,
and other clubs, and is a trustee of the Brooklyn Art
Association.
The ancestral records of Isaac C. DeBevgise,
which have been noted in a preceding chapter, are so
inseparably associated with those of the earlier set-
tlers on Long Island that they constitute in some
measure a portion of the history of Brooklyn. The
house which he himself built, and where he has made
his home for many years, is situated in a section now included among the most populous districts in the
city, and stands upon ground that once constituted a portion of the famous farm which Joris Jansen de
Rapalje purchased from the Indians in 1637. This property comprised 335 acres, part of which covered the
site now occupied by the grounds of the United States Marine Hospital, and became known as Rennaga-
conck. Mr. DeBevoise was born in 1837, in the old family homestead at Bushwick, where his father, Charles
I. DeBevoise, who for years had been supervisor of Bushwick, was born. His mother was Jane Rapalje,
daughter of Folkert Rapalje and Agnes DeBevoise. He was educated at Union Hall Academy in
Jamaica. His early life was passed on the paternal estate at Bushwick, and as he advanced in life his time
was exclusively devoted to the improvement of the property which he inherited. His family connections
give him an honorable place among the members of the Holland Society, and his financial interests have
placed him on the board of trustees connected with the Williamsburgh Savings Bank. He is fond of music
and the fine arts, and is the possessor of many interesting relics relating to his family and to the early
history of Bushwick; among these there was, until lately, an old communion tankard once the property of
the "Beehive" church at Bushwick, which bears the date, 1708, and which he has transferred to the
keeping of the Holland Society. In i860 he married Miss Caroline A. Schenck, daughter of Cornelius
Schenck, of New York; they have four children.
John T. Sackett is a charter member of the club and filled the office of secretary from March, 1888,
until March, 1892. He is a rising young lawyer of Brooklyn, and is one of the exceptionally active mem-
bers of the club. He was born in New York city on October i, 1864, and at the age of nine years came to
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCL\L LIFE. S8i
Brooklyn with his parents. He attended public school in this city, and spent nearly two years at St. Paul's
Military School in Garden City, L. I. In 1886 he was graduated from Cornell University and then took a
two years' course at Columbia College Law School. He was graduated at the latter in May, 1888, and in
the same month was admitted to practice in the state courts. Since that time he has been engaged in the
practice of his profession in New York city. While at Cornell University he was business manager of the
Cornell Daily Sun, and he was the memorial orator uf the class of '86. In November, 1891, he married a
niece of George G. Reynolds, late chief justice of the city court.
William G. Hoople was born near the Long Sault of St. Lawrence river, Dickinson's Landing, Canada,
in 1S41, on a farm which his grandfather received from the government as a loyalist. In 1862 he came to
New York, procured employment with his uncle, who was engaged in the leather business, and four years
later became his partner. Upon the retirement of his uncle from the business he associated himself with
Loring A. Robertson. The latter died in the fall of i8go, since which time Mr. Hoople has conducted the
business alone. In June, 1867, he was married at the Long Sault, to Miss Agnes Blackburn. He has
resided in Brooklyn since 1876 and is a member of the Central Congregational Church, assistant superin-
tendent of Bethesda Chapel, and serves on the prudential committee in the church with which he is con-
nected.
Since 1866 Charles H. Rutherford has been an esteemed citizen of Brooklyn, and his membership
in the club is one of many years standing. Very soon after coming here he united with the Nostrand
Avenue M. E. Church, and for years has acted as a trustee. He is interested in general church work and is
a member of the Brooklyn Church Society. He was born at White Plains, N. Y., in 1841, and was
educated at a private boarding school kept by his father in Nyack. In 1862 he went to New York city
where he became a clerk with Hegeman & Co., in the drug business. One year later he went to the firm of
James S. Aspinwall, wholesale druggists, with whom he remained as chief clerk until he embarked in busi-
ness for himself. He was married in 1S66, the same year that he moved to Brooklyn.
Clark D. Rhinehart was born at Brunswick, Ulster County, N. Y., on January 7, 1S44. At the age
of twelve he left his home to begin work as a clerk in a store at Rochester, and later he learned the trade
of a carpenter, but left the bench to accept a situation as a shipping clerk with a grocery firm in Newburgh.
In 1863 he enlisted in the 5th N. Y. Cavalry, and in 1865 he settled in Greenpoint, where the shipping busi-
ness engaged his attention until 1S72, when he disposed of his interest and occupied himself with the manu-
facture of composition roofing. From 1879 until 1880 he was clerk of the Brooklyn board of audit, and
until 1882 he served as clerk to the late Francis B. Fisher, In 1883 he was elected civil justice in the third
district, and upon the expiration of his term of office in 1887, was at once chosen as candidate for the
shrievalty against William A. Furey. He was elected and served the full term of three years.
LINCOLN CLUB.
Early in the month of January, 1878, about a dozen gentlemen, who were more or less known in Repub-
lican political circles of the city, bound themselves together in an association for the dual purpose of social
enjoyment and furthering the interest of the Republican party. For more than a year the new club, which
took the name of the war president, met at private residences. In the spring of 1879, having received many
accessions of membership, the Lincoln Club rented one of two frame houses that then occupied the site of
the club's present quarters at 65 and 67 Putnam avenue. The building was small, but suited at that time
the needs of the organization, which in the following autumn made a successful application to the legisla-
ture for an act of incorporation. Soon after this the club, through no constitutional movement, but rather
by the openly and informally expressed opinion of a majority of its members, abandoned its political fea-
tures, and became purely social in its ends and aims. Having in this manner thrown open the doors to all
suitable applicants for membership, the club immediately increased in size and in importance. Many Demo-
crats, prominent in their party, placed their names upon its rolls. District Attorney James W. Ridgway
became one of the most popular members and was elected a trustee in 1892. Police Commissioner Henry
I. Hayden, who was formerly president, is another distinguished Democrat who is a member of the club, and
Alfred C. Chapin was a member during his residence in the seventh ward, but resigned in 1S90. In 1883
the growth of the club demanded the purchase and extensive alteration of both the frame houses referred
to above. In 1886 a large extension was built in the rear of the club house at an expense bordering on
$9,000. Three years later, in the spring of 1889, the club determined to erect a house that would not only
be a credit to the organization, but would place it upon a plane with any of the great social institutions of
Brooklyn. Architect R. L. Daus, of Brooklyn, was selected to make the necessary plans. The expense was
estimated at $30,000, but subsequent demands carried it considerably beyond that figure. In the late
autumn of 1889 the club's new home was ready for occupancy. The building as it now stands is four stories
in height, and has a frontage on Putnam avenue of forty-five feet, with a depth of one hundred and twenty
feet, including the extension erected in i886, which was left standmg. The material used in its construction
882
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
is pressed brick varied with Lake Superior brownstone, and trimmed with terra-cotta moulding and
carvino- The architecture is what is known as early French Renaissance. The dominant feature of this
peculirr style is a combination of solidity with lightness, due to the impression left upon the mediaeval
architecture of France by Italian ideas. There is a massive stoop with elaborately carved balustrades lead-
ing to an entrance of handsome proportions and beautifully decorated. In the lowest story are three stained
glass windows with handsome designs of female figures, emblematic of Concord, Prosperity and Friendship.
From a point between the second and third stories projects a massive corbel supporting the base of a
tower which rises some distance above the tiled roof, and is topped with a flag pole. A magnificently
Lincoln Club House, Putnam Avenue.
carved bay window and an oriel window in the tower are also prominent features. The entire first floor of
the building is practically one apartment, with the exception of a dining-room and office. A handsome hall-
way leads into a reception room with a massive fire-place and mantel ; and from this apartment an archway
affords access to a parlor of generous dimensions, handsomely carpeted and furnished, which in turn is con-
nected with a reading room in the rear. The second floor contains billiard and card rooms ; the third floor,
bed-rooms and a bath-room, and the fourth, apartments for employees. In the basement is a commodious
kitchen and four bowling alleys. The history of the club has been one of peaceful progress, and its present
home-like and attractive features are due entirely to the care exercised in electing to membership only those
who are in harmony with the club's social purpose. The receptions of the club are social events of prime
importance. Most of the eminent visitors to the city are entertained in the club house. The officers of the
club elected in 1892 are : Herbert T. Ketcham, president ; Eugene 1). Berri, vice-president ; George Crosby,
treasurer ; Emerson W. Keyes, secretary.
Herbert T. Ketcham was born at Huntington, L. I., in 1850, and has been a resident of Brooklyn
since 1858. He became a student at Williams College in 1867, and was graduated at that institution in
1874. For seventeen years he has practiced law with marked success. In 1877 he married Miss
Olivia E. Phillips, of Portland, Me.; their home is 178 Lefferts place. Mr. Ketcham has devoted much of
his leisure time to the production of literature of a general character. Until his election to the presidency
of the Lincoln Club, he had not prominently identified himself with social affairs. His early training in the
field of athletics gave him prominence as a member of the Lincoln Club bowling team.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
883
Eugene D. Berri, a club man who has devoted much time to social recreation since his retirement
from active business, is the vice-president of the club, and is deservedly popular among his fellow members
and a large circle of friends.
Martin E. Berry, formerly president of the club, was born in Brooklyn on August 10, 1863. He was
educated at public school No. 11, and when fifteen years old engaged in the warehousing business with E.
B. Bartlett & Co., in whose employ he remained thirteen years. He then made a venture on his own
account as a forwarding agent, and has since continued in that line of business. He is a trustee of the
club and a member of the house committee. In the winter of 1891-2 he was one of a team of five that
captured for the club the inter-club bowling championship. He is a member of the Crescent Athletic Club.
Horace E. Dresser was born in New York, on June 22, 1841. He received a public school education
in that city, and was graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1859. He immediately began
business life by accepting a boy's position in the
wholesale hosiery concern of John J. Hinchman & Co.,
New York, and in less than six years was managing
partner, though four years were spent in other employ-
ment. Soon after entering the hosiery business he
accepted a clerkship in the naval office of the port of
New York, from which he was soon promoted. While
filling official positions he devoted his spare time to
literary work, contributing to the New York news-
papers. In 1863 he compiled "The Battle Record of
the American Rebellion," and in 1864 I). Appleton &
Co., published his compilation of "The United States
Internal Revenue and Tariff Laws;" other editions
being published by the same firm in 1865, and by
Harper Bros., in 1870 and 1872. He is senior partner
of the mercantile firm of Dresser & Olmsted, New
York. He became a permanent resident of Brooklyn
in 1876. In 1882 he was appointed a member of the
board of education by Mayor Low and was reap-
pointed by the same mayor in 1885, and by Mayor
Chapin in 1888. He strongly advocated the develop-
ment of the central grammar school into such an insti-
tution as it is to-day, and was one of the founders of
the training school for teachers. While thus engaged
in fostering higher education, he was equally interested
in the primary branches and was the first to introduce
kindergarten instruction in the public schools. In 1888
he was elected president of the Seventh Ward Republi-
can Association. A year later his party offered him the nomination for state senator in the third district, but
he declined the honor, although its tender was equivalent to an election. In 1891 he was nominated as the
Republican candidate for supervisor-at-large, and polled a larger vote, in the city of Brooklyn, than that cast
for any candidate on the Republican state, county or city ticket, except the candidates for mayor and
secretary of state. In April, 1892, the Republican state convention named him as one of the presidential
electors. He has been many years a member of the club, and is a member of the Union League Club and
the New England Society. In the Union League he has been a member of the executive and members
committees and the committee on literary exercises, and chairman of the finance committee.
Joseph A. Velsor, born in New York city in 1834, is of Dutch descent, the family name having been
formerly Van Velsor. He was educated at the public schools and at the New York Free Academy, from
which he was graduated in 1854. His first employment was in 1855 in the store at 9 Clold street. New York,
of which since 1865 he has been a proprietor, the firm name being changed in that year to Peek & Velsor.
Mr. Peek died in 1885, but the title has been retained ; the business is dealing in botanic drugs. Mr. Velsor
is a member of the Lincoln, Union League, and Marine and Field clubs, of Brooklyn, and the Fulton Club,
of New York city.
John W. Rhoades is among the most active members of the club. He is one of those who constitute
the library committee. His ancestors were prominently identified for many generations with the history of
Connecticut. He was born in New York in the year 1847, and studied at the public schools of that city ;
he was graduated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. His first employment was with the New York
News Company, the affairs of which are now entirely under his management. His promotion was rapid,
Horace E. Dresser.
884
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
John H. Ireland.
and was due to his marked e.xecutive talent and to the facility with which
he mastered the various details of the business. He has been prominently
in various social and political organizations, including among the latter
the Young Republican Club. He is fond of aquatic sports, and spends
his summer with his family on the shores of New Jersey and Connecticut.
John H. Ireland was born in Brooklyn in 1837. He was educated
at public school No. 4. On leaving school he was for a time employed
in A. T. Stewart's drygoods house. He afterwards spent five years in the
employment of Remsen & Burroughs, lime and brick dealers. Since 1858
he has been connected with the firm of Cross, Austin & Co., lumber deal-
ers, at first as clerk, but since 1870 as a member of the firm. He is a mem-
ber of the board of trustees of the Washington Avenue Baptist Church. In
1863 he married Miss Martha Colyer. She died in 1882, leaving two daugh-
ters, now Mrs. Charles A. Van Iderstine and Mrs. Arthur L. Tinker.
Frank S. Henderson is especially well known in masonic circles,
having begun his masonic career in Stella Lodge, 485, F. & A. M., and
served as its master three years. He is a member of Gate of the Temple
Chapter, R. .\. M., and of Clinton Commandery No. 14, Knights Templar. In the Scottish rite he has advanced
to the 32° and he is also a noble of Kismet Temple,
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a member of the Aurora
Grata Club, the Northwestern Masonic Association and
the Council Bluffs, la.. Knights Templars Masonic
Association. He is a charter member of Gilbert Coun-
cil, Royal Arcanum, National Provident Union, Ameri
can Legion of Honor, Order of the World, United
States Accident Association and Atlantic Lodge, Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. On November 27,
1877, he married Miss Gussie M. Taylor, of Brook-
lyn, at Amityville, L. I. He was born in Brooklyn on
October 28, 1855, and was educated at public school
No. I. His home is at 204 Schermerhorn street.
A descendant of that sturdy Anglo-Sa.xon race
which has attained to the highest plane of physical
development in the bracing climate of Canada, J.
Austin Shaw is an admirable type of that great class
of the population whose members have become citi-
zens by adoption. He was born at Oshawa, Ontario,
in 1850, and attended the public schools in his native
town until the age of fifteen, when he was licensed as
a teacher. For five years he was engaged in instruct-
ing Canadian youth, and at the same time prepared
himself for college
under private tu-
ition. In 1871 he
moved to Toronto,
and laid the founda-
tion of the nursery business which he has since pursued and enlarged
until its proportions are equal to those of any other similar enterprise
in the state of New York. In 1880 he removed to Rochester, and in
18S8 to Brooklyn, where he has established his main office and where, in
1890, he added the business of a florist to that of nurseryman. He is a
member of the Lincoln Club, the Royal Arcanum and the Franklin
Literary Society.
Robert B. Shimer was born in Warren County, N. J., on April 11,
1837. He was the son of a prosperous farmer of that district, and his
early life was spent on the farm and in a country school, near Easton, Pa.,
where he was educated. After leaving school he became a clerk in a
drygoods store in Easton. He soon migrated to New York and entered
the employment of Stewart & Mettler, a wholesale grocery firm, doing
Frank S. Henderson.
J. Austin Shaw.
SOCIAL CLUBS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
8S5
Robert B. Shimer.
business at 64 Dey street. He remained in tliis posi-
tion four years and then left New Yorlv for Pliiladel-
pliia, where he worked two years in a general notion
store. From Philadelphia he went to White Haven,
Luzerne County, Pa., and formed the firm of Sharpe
& Shimer, engaged in lumber finishing. After some-
what varied experiences in that region he returned
to New York and became a clerk in the poultry trade
with Hillier, Case & Co. In 1881 he came to Brook-
lyn, where he has since lived. His next position was
that of a salesman with Drew & French, with whom he
remained three years. Then he joined the firm of
Borum & Miles on a salary and with a share of the
profits. In i860 he formed the firm of Gould & Shinier,
poultry merchants, to which the present firm of Robert
B. Shimer & Co., of New York, is the successor. He
married Miss Charlotte E. Christie, of Paterson, N. L,
on November 2, 1876. He has been a member of the
Jjincoln Club six years. He was one of the members
of the L^nion League Club when that organization
was founded. In politics he is a l^epublican and a
staunch upholder of his party.
Frederick H. Parsons has resided in the seventh
ward from the time when he came to Brooklyn with
his parents, excepting a brief period when he was in
Europe. His home is at 193 Lefferts place. Being an
enthusiast in regard to physical culture he is a member of the Crescent Athletic Club, of Brooklyn, and the
Manhattan Athletic Club, of New York city; and by reason of his business afifiliations as a fire insurance
broker he is a member of the Insurance Club, in which organization he is prominently active. From Buffalo,
where he was born on April 10, 1853, he was taken by his parents to Union City, Pa., in 1861. They
remained there until 1864, when they came to Brooklyn, and he attended public school No. 3, from which he
went to the Adelphi Academy, where he was graduated in 1868. His intention was to make architecture his
profession, and he pursued the study of his chosen art
in Europe for some time, but his health being impaired
he returned to Brooklyn and obtained employment in
the house of James Sonneborn & Co., a firm engaged
in the export of petroleum, hi 1874 he went into fire
insurance brokerage, making a speciality of what are
known as petroleum risks, and this branch of insurance
has been retained as a feature in his business. He is
a man of executive ability, and possesses a talent for
organization which was displayed in the formation of
the Alliance Insurance Association in 1887. He was
president of the company for a short time pending the
election of a regular underwriter to that position, and
he was president of the Metropolitan Board of Fire
Insurance Brokers, which was formed about the same
time, holding the office from 1888 until 1890, inclusive.
In 1878 he married Miss Lina Moore, of Brooklyn,
who bore one son, his only child ; she died about a
year later. He married Miss Anna Lounsberry, of
Brooklyn, in 1881. He is active in the local affairs of
the city, and is a Republican in politics.
Cornwall, England, was the birthplace of William
Westlake, a resident of Brooklyn and one of the
largest inventors of railway appliances in this country.
His father was an ironmonger, whitesmith, and tin
plate worker. At the age of sixteen Wm. Westlake
came with his parents to the United States, and located
Frederick H. Parsons.
886
THE EAGLE AND BROOKLYN.
William Westlake.
in Milwaukee, Wis., wliere his father died two weeks
after their arrival; the care and suijport of his mother
and SIX children thus devolved upon him. He imme-
diately sought and obtained employment as a "roller-
boy " in the office of the Evening Wisconsin, and made
some e.xtra money by sawing wood. He next bound
himself as an apprentice to I. S. Pardee, and it was
while with the latter that he invented his famous loose
globe railway lantern which is now in use all over the
world, and which has since made a dozen or more men
rich. In 1857 he entered the employ of what is now
the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. I\uil Railway, where he
conceived and invented the " Westlake Ventilating
Car Heater." He has taken out one hundred letters
patent, and those only on his most useful and profit-
able inventions. In 1S77 he established himself in
business in New York, and from that time his exer-
tions were crowned with success. In 18S3 he retired
from active business, although he continues to devote
much of his time to making new discoveries. He has
recently perfected a system on which he has been ex-
perimenting for five years for burning soft coal with-
out smoke. He is an influential and public spirited
citizen, and has many ardent friends in the Lincoln
Club, of which he is a trustee.
Jay Stone, chief clerk of the permanent board of
engineers, U. S. A., in New York city, is a conspicuous member of the club. He was born in New York city
on July 20, 1851, and was educated at the city's public schools. He went west soon after leaving school
and became attached to General Terry's headquarters, of the military department of Dakota, at St. Paul,
Minn., as chief clerk of the judge advocate's office. He remained in the department of Dakota from 1872
until 1881, serving in 1877 as secretary of the Sitting Bull Indian commission, which went into the British
possessions after the massacre of General Custer. In 18S1 he went to Washington and was assigned to
duty in the war department, being appointed chief of the correspondence division of that department on
July 3, 1882. In 1887 he came to Brooklyn to live, and entered upon the work of chief clerk of the board
of engineers on fortifications and river and harbor improvements in New York city. The assassination of
President Garfield took place during his residence in Washington, and he was one of the attendants at the
White House during the night of that fatal day. He also had charge of the telegraphic correspondence at
Elberon, N. T.,at the time of the president's death. While in Washington he acted as private secretary to
secretaries of war Alexander Ramsay, Robert T. Lincoln and William C. Endicott.
William G. Crea:\ier, who has been a resident of Brooklyn for many years, is an inventor of railroad
appliances. He was born in Hunterdon County, N. J., on November 26, 1821, and educated at Hartwick
Seminary in Otsego County, N. Y. At the age of nineteen he engaged in business as a dealer in stoves and
tinware at Perth Amboy, N. J., but shortly afterward removed to Paterson, N. J., where he continued in the
same business until he moved to Birmingham, Conn., in 1845, and engaged in the manufacture of cotton
yarns. In 1S50 he went to New Haven and engaged in the range, stove and heater trade ; three years later
he moved this business to New York and lived there until i860, when he became a citizen of Brooklyn. In
1857 Mr. Creamer invented a safety brake for railroad trains, and shortly after he perfected an arrangement
whereby the engineer was given complete control over all the brakes of the trains and enabled to operate
them simultaneously. Since i860 he has been engaged in the manufacture of various apparatus for rail-
roads. In 1869 he established a factory in Brooklyn on the block bounded by Court, Smith and Creamer
streets. The last having received its name in honor of Mr. Creamer. He is a member of the Long Island
Historical Society, and in January, 1892, was elected treasurer of the New England Society, of which he has
been a member since its organization.
Frank Sittig has been a resident of Brooklyn for twelve years, and a member of the Lincoln Club
since 1887. He was the captain of the club's bowling team that captured the inter-club prize in the season
of 1890-91. He is also the vice-president of the Florence Dramatic Ass